Ten Things You Need to Know for Friday – March 13, 2015
Bryan Schott
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:
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].
Gov. Herbert recaps the 2015 session with us and discusses what legislation he's eyeing for a veto [Utah Policy].
Lawmakers get a hike in the gas tax through the legislature just under the wire [Tribune].
Public schools end the session with more than $500 million in new money [Deseret News].
Here are some of the minor budget items lawmakers spent taxpayer money on this year [Utah Policy].
A bill requiring the full legislature to sign off on relocating the state prison wins final approval and heads to the governor [Deseret News].
Legislators are unable to find common ground on school board elections, leaving how candidates are nominated in limbo [Tribune].
Lawmakers approve a pay raise for the governor and other executive offices [Deseret News, Tribune].
Gov. Herbert signs the non-discrimination bill during a packed ceremony at the Capitol [Tribune, Deseret News].
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.