It's the final day of the 2015 Utah Legislature. Lawmakers are still looking for a deal on Medicaid expansion, but time is running out. Utahns overwhelmingly support a shift in Utah's criminal justice system.
Countdown:
- Today is the final day of the 2015 Legislature.
- Days to the 2015 Utah municipal primary elections – 152
- Days to the 2015 election – 236
- Days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus (tentative) – 312
- Days to the opening day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – 319
- Days to the 2016 Utah presidential primary – 474
- Days until the 2016 presidential election – 607
Thursday's top-10 headlines:
- There are less than 24 hours to go in the legislative session and lawmakers are still at an impasse on Medicaid expansion [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune].
- Utahns overwhelmingly back a shift in Utah's criminal justice system focusing that's focused on treatment over incarceration [Utah Policy].
- The Utah Senate hijacks a House bill calling for non-partisan school board elections, swapping it out with a plan for partisan elections [Tribune, Deseret News].
- Lawmakers are still trying to come to an accord over a gas tax hike [Deseret News].
- The Legislature gives final passage to historic non-discrimination legislation that includes protections for religious liberties [Tribune].
- The House gives final approval to legislation allowing government workers to opt out of performing same-sex marriages [Tribune].
- The public is split on whether police should be able to pull over drivers because they're not wearing a seat belt, but they're solidly behind a plan to ban drivers from making calls behind the wheel unless it's hands-free [Utah Policy].
- A bill to equalize tax revenue among school districts barely passes the Utah House and now heads to the governor [Tribune].
- Lawmakers send a bill making game fowl fighting a felony to the governor [Deseret News, Tribune].
- Former Governor Jon Huntsman joins Sen. Mike Lee's re-election campaign [Utah Policy, Tribune, Deseret News].
On this day in history:
- 1933 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered the first of his radio "fireside chats."
- 1947 – In a speech to Congress, President Harry Truman outlined what became known as the Truman Doctrine, calling for U.S. aid to countries threatened by communism.
- 2003 – Elizabeth Smart was found in the custody of a panhandler and his wife in Sandy, Utah.
- 2008 – New York Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned after being caught in a high-priced prostitution scandal.
