Good Tuesday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 54th day of the year. There are 312 days left in 2016.
Huntsman says he could support Trump. Utahns say pornography is a public health crisis. Lawmakers are breathing a sigh of relief after Utah’s budget projections come in only slightly less than anticipated.
The clock:
- The Nevada Republican Caucuses are today (2/23/2016)
- Four days to the South Carolina Democratic Primary (2/27/2016)
- Seven days to the “Super Tuesday” primaries and caucuses (3/2/2016)
- 16 days to the final day of the 2016 Utah Legislature – (3/10/2016)
- 28 days to the Utah Republican and Democratic caucus meetings (3/22/2016)
- 36 days to the last day the governor may sign or veto bills (3/30/2016)
- 60 days to the Utah Republican and Democratic State Conventions (4/23/2016)
- 76 days to the last day a veto override session may begin (5/9/2016)
- 126 days to the 2016 Utah primary election – (6/28/2016)
- 146 days to the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland (7/18/2016)
- 153 days to the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia (7/25/2016)
- 259 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)
Ten talking points for Tuesday:
- Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman says he would probably support Donald Trump if he were to win the GOP nomination [CNN].
- Some Republicans are pushing Ohio Gov. John Kasich to get out of the presidential race to clear the way for Marco Rubio [Politico, Washington Post].
- Ted Cruz fires his chief spokesperson for spreading a misleading video about Rubio saying something negative about the Bible [New York Times, Washington Post, CNN].
- Nearly 3/4 of Utahns say pornography should be classified as a public health crisis [Utah Policy].
- Utah’s revenue estimates are down from December’s projections, but lawmakers still have a lot of extra money to spend this year [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune].
- Gov. Gary Herbert asks President Barack Obama not to declare a new national monument in Utah [Utah Policy, Tribune, Deseret News].
- The Utah Senate passes one medical marijuana bill and advances another. At the same time, the LDS Church softens its stance against one of the proposed pieces of legislation [2 News, Fox 13, Deseret News, Tribune, Daily Herald].
- About 20-percent of proposed bills in this year’s legislature pose a potential conflict of interest for the lawmakers behind them [Tribune].
- Want a ticket to next month’s GOP presidential debate in Utah? May the odds ever be in your favor [Tribune].
- Donald Trump gets an official campaign presence in Utah [2 News, Tribune, Deseret News].
On this day in history:
- 1836 – Mexican soldiers under the command of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna began their assault on the Alamo Mission near present-day San Antonio, Texas.
- 1861 – President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrived secretly in Washington to take office after an assassination plot was foiled in Baltimore.
- 1870 – Mississippi was readmitted to the Union
- 1945 – Members of the 5th Division of the U.S. Marines planted a U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima.
- 1991 – President George H.W. Bush announced that the allied ground offensive against Iraqi forces had begun.
- 2011 – The Obama administration said it would no longer defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act.
