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Ten Things You Need to Know for Friday – March 13, 2015

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Lawmakers can't come to an agreement on Medicaid expansion. Legislators approve a gas tax hike. Public schools end the 2015 session as big winners.

Countdown:

  • Days to the 2015 Utah municipal primary elections – 151
  • Days to the 2015 election – 235
  • Days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus (tentative) – 311
  • Days to the opening day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – 318
  • Days to the 2016 Utah presidential primary – 473
  • Days until the 2016 presidential election – 606

Friday's top-10 headlines:

  1. Lawmakers are unable to come to an agreement on Medicaid expansion. Gov. Gary Herbert announces they will continue working on the issue and sets a July 31 deadline to come up with a plan [Utah Policy, Tribune, Deseret News].
  2. Gov. Herbert recaps the 2015 session with us and discusses what legislation he's eyeing for a veto [Utah Policy].
  3. Lawmakers get a hike in the gas tax through the legislature just under the wire [Tribune].
  4. Public schools end the session with more than $500 million in new money [Deseret News].
  5. Here are some of the minor budget items lawmakers spent taxpayer money on this year [Utah Policy].
  6. A bill requiring the full legislature to sign off on relocating the state prison wins final approval and heads to the governor [Deseret News].
  7. Legislators are unable to find common ground on school board elections, leaving how candidates are nominated in limbo [Tribune].
  8. Lawmakers approve a pay raise for the governor and other executive offices [Deseret News, Tribune].
  9. Gov. Herbert signs the non-discrimination bill during a packed ceremony at the Capitol [Tribune, Deseret News].
  10. Minority report. Rep. Brian King wraps up the 2015 from the perspective of Utah's minority party [Utah Policy].

On this day in history:

  • 1781 – The planet Uranus was discovered by British astronomer William Herschel.
  • 1884 – Standard Time was adopted throughout the United States.
  • 1868 – The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate began impeachment proceedings against President Andrew Johnson, a Democrat, following a political feud after the Civil War. Johnson was acquitted by one vote.
  • 1881 – Czar Alexander II was killed in a St. Petersburg street by a bomb thrown by a member of the revolutionary "People's Will" group.