A majority of Utahns want lawmakers to pass Healthy Utah. Anti-bias/religious liberties legislation passes the Utah Senate. Support for the Count My Vote compromise passed last year appears to be falling.
Countdown:
- Days to the final day of the 2015 Utah Legislature – 3
- Days to the 2015 Utah municipal primary elections – 155
- Days to the 2015 election – 239
- Days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus (tentative) – 315
- Days to the opening day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – 322
- Days to the 2016 Utah presidential primary – 477
- Days until the 2016 presidential election – 610
Monday's top-10 headlines:
- A new survey finds 55% of Utahns want the legislature to pass the Healthy Utah plan while just 20% favor the Utah Cares alternative [Utah Policy].
- The Utah House moved forward with the Utah Cares plan for Medicaid expansion on Friday despite attempts by Democrats to hijack the bill to replace it with Healthy Utah [Tribune, Deseret News].
- Implementing the Utah Cares plan instead of Healthy Utah would leave $2.7 billion in federal funding on the table [Utah Policy].
- The anti-bias/religious liberty bill clears the Senate and heads to the House [Deseret News, Tribune].
- LGBT groups are worried about a bill allowing government employees to refuse to marry same-sex couple [Tribune, Deseret News].
- A poll shows public support for the "Count My Vote" compromise is falling. The same survey also shows Utahns prefer a runoff election if no candidate wins a majority of the vote under that compromise [Utah Policy].
- The Utah GOP votes to hold a presidential caucus in 2016 instead of a primary. That decision is still subject to approval by delegates at their convention this summer [Deseret News].
- The preliminary budget numbers show lawmakers have boosted education funding, but it's short of the $500 million benchmark set by Gov. Gary Herbert [Tribune].
- Lawmakers are close to approving a measure requiring the legislature and Gov. Gary Herbert to sign off on relocating the prison [Tribune, Deseret News].
- Salt Lake City will honor the legacy of former mayor Deedee Corradini on Monday [Tribune].
On this day in history:
- 1841 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the African slaves who seized control of the Amistad slave ship had been illegally forced into slavery and were free under U.S. law.
- 1862 – A battle between ironclad ships – the Union's Monitor and the Confederate's Merrimac – ended in a draw off the coast of Virginia.
- 1933 – Congress, called into special session by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, began its 100 days of enacting New Deal legislation.
- 2005 – Dan Rather stepped down as anchor and managing editor of "CBS Evening News" after acknowledging major flaws in a story about U.S. President George W. Bush's National Guard service.
