Good Monday morning from Salt Lake City. It's "National Waffle Iron Day," so let's make some waffles to celebrate!
Republicans are divided over how to react to the Supreme Court ruling on marriage. One lawmaker wants Utah to stop issuing marriage licenses. The Utah GOP is still finding some friction in the move to comply with the state's new election law.
Countdown:
- Days to the 2015 Utah municipal primary elections – 43
- Days to the 2015 election – 127
- Days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus (tentative) – 204
- Days to the opening day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – 211
- Days to the 2016 New Hampshire Primary – 212
- Days to the 2016 Utah primary election – 366
- Days until the 2016 presidential election – 499
Monday's top-10 headlines:
- The GOP presidential candidates are deeply divided over how to react to the Supreme Court's historic ruling on marriage [New York Times].
- In reaction to the SCOTUS marriage ruling, at least one Utah lawmaker wants the state to get out of the marriage business altogether [Tribune, Fox 13].
- Utah Republicans move forward with plans to comply with SB54, but not without some resistance [Deseret News].
- Federal investigators are taking over the probe into former Rep. Justin Miller and Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams [Tribune].
- Banks in Greece remain closed all week because of that company's deepening debt crisis [BBC].
- The governor of Puerto Rico says the island doesn't have enough money to pay its $72 billion debt [New York Times].
- If voters approve a tax hike in November, the Utah Transit Authority says they will expand bus service [Tribune].
- More Utahns are warming to the idea of charging sales tax for online purchases [Deseret News].
- The Human Rights Campaign denounces the World Congress of Families as a hate group ahead of their planned conference in Salt Lake City this fall [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune].
- A little more than 1/3 of Utahns say they plan to vacation inside the state this summer while a quarter say they'll travel outside its borders [Utah Policy].
On this day in history:
- 1776 – The Virginia state constitution was adopted.
- 1853 – The U.S. Senate ratified the $10 million Gadsen Purchase from Mexico, which added 29,000 square miles to the territories of Arizona and New Mexico.
- 1972 – The Supreme Court ruled that capital punishment, as then administered by individual states, was unconstitutional.
- 2007 – The first Apple iPhone went on sale.
