Local News Highlights: Daily Briefing Morning Must Reads for Thursday, December 1, 2016

Nike Air Force White MID, Nike Air Force MID White Nike Air Barrage MID Navy, Nike Air Barrage MID Men's, Nike Air Barrage MID - Men's White/navy/black | 44-15203-2-04

Thursday, December 1, 2016 - 9:45am

Utah Policy

Local News Highlights: Daily Briefing

Morning Must Reads for Thursday, December 1, 2016

Good Thursday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 336th day of the year. There are 30 days remaining in 2016.

Senate leaders urge Orrin Hatch to run for another term in 2018. Nearly half of Americans don't want Obamacare repealed. Mitt Romney may have to wait until next week for Donald Trump to make his pick for Secretary of State.

The clock:

18 days until the Electoral College meets to cast their votes for president and vice president (12/19/2016)
50 days until Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 45th President (1/20/2017)
53 days until the first day of the 2017 Utah Legislature (1/23/2017)
98 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature (3/9/2017)
341 days until the 2017 municipal elections (11/7/2017)
705 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)

Ten talking points for Thursday:

A number of prominent Senators, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, are basically pleading with Sen. Orrin Hatch to run for another term in 2018 [Utah Policy].
The group that wants to put a tax hike for public schools directly on the 2018 ballot has a very good reason they went around Gov. Herbert and Utah lawmakers [Utah Policy].
Well, that's kinda awkward. A new national survey finds nearly half of Americans want President-Elect Donald Trump and Congress to either keep or expand Obamacare, while just 26% want to see the law repealed [CNN Money]. Congressional Republicans hope to repeal Obamacare early in 2017, but they may delay the effective date of that repeal for maybe three years [Politico]. More Utahns have signed up for health insurance through Obamacare this year than in 2015 [Tribune].
Carrier Corp's decision to keep hundreds of jobs in Indiana is mostly about access to federal contracts in a Donald Trump administration. Trump is touting the deal as a political win for his administration [Indianapolis Star].
Donald Trump is putting together the wealthiest Cabinet in history. His picks include several multi-millionaires and a couple of billionaires [Washington Post]. Trump is also assembling his Cabinet faster than any president in the last 40 years [Daily Signal].
Mitt Romney may have to wait a while to see if he's offered the Secretary of State post. Sources say the pick may not come until sometime next week [CBS News]. Along with Romney, Donald Trump is reportedly considering three other candidates for the job: former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, retired Gen. David Petraeus and Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker [Wall Street Journal].
Steven Mnuchin, Donald Trump's pick for Treasury Secretary, says there will be no "absolute tax cut" for wealthy Americans. That means any tax cuts for the rich will be offset by fewer deductions. Instead, he says the biggest tax cuts will go to the middle class [Wall Street Journal].
Former half-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is reportedly lobbying for a slot in a Donald Trump administration, possibly as VA Secretary [NBC News].
A federal judge's decision to block President Barack Obama's overtime rule, which would require companies to pay more to some salaried workers who work more than 40 hours a week, is leaving a number of Utah companies and workers "in limbo" [Deseret News].
The Bureau of Land Management is opening up oil and gas leases in Nine Mile Canyon, which is drawing sharp criticism from environmental groups [Deseret News, Tribune]. Kane and Garfield counties file a lawsuit against the BLM over a moratorium over new coal leases on federal lands [Tribune].

On this day in history:

1824 - The House of Representatives convened to decide the presidential election because no candidate had received a majority in the Electoral College. (John Quincy Adams was eventually chosen the winner over Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay.)
1891 - The game of basketball was invented when James Naismith, a physical education teacher at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Mass., put peach baskets at the opposite ends of a gym and gave students soccer balls to toss into them.
1943 - Ending a "Big Three" meeting in Tehran, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Russian Premier Josef Stalin pledged a concerted effort to defeat Nazi Germany.
1955 - Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, defied the law by refusing to give up her seat to a white man aboard a Montgomery, Ala., city bus. Parks was arrested, sparking a year-long boycott of the buses by blacks.
1963 - The Beatles' first single, "I Want to Hold Your Hand," was released in the United States.

Today At Utah Policy

Analysis: How to Propose a Tax Hike for Public Schools
By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor
Get ready for an 18-month sophisticated political and public relations campaign to convince you, dear reader, to raise you own personal Utah state income taxes....

Chaffetz: Trump 'Moving in the Right Direction' on Potential Conflicts of Interest
By Golden Webb
Democrats are pressuring Rep. Jason Chaffetz to initiateinvestigations into Donald Trump's financial arrangements, but the House Oversight chairman says it would be ridiculous "to go on essentially fishing trips" before Trump has even beensworn in as president....

Utah Regulation Reform
By Salt Lake Chamber
Utah’s economy is one of the strongest in the nation. Just last week Forbes named Utah the best state for business for the third year. But in response to our success we are tasked with a difficult question: how can we make the best state for business even better? ...

Weekly Survey: Should we Keep or Abolish the Electoral College?
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Donald Trump will occupy the White House for the next four years despite losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by more than 2 million votes. Do you think it's time America abolished the Electoral College, or does it still serve a purpose? Vote now....

We May Not Know If Trump's Foreign Business Deals Violate the Constitution
By Derek Kravitz, ProPublica
The question of whether President-elect Donald Trump will run afoul of federal conflict-of-interest rules or the Constitution because of his extensive foreign investments has been the subject of intense scrutiny among legal and ethics scholars....

Senate Republicans Urging Hatch to Run in 2018
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Some prominent Senate Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, say they want Sen. Orrin Hatch to run for an eighth term in 2018....

Policy News

Utah Director of Management and Budget to Receive National Award
Kristen Cox, executive director of the Utah Governor’s Office of Management and Budget, will be honored with the prestigious 2016 Public Official of the Year award in Washington, D.C....

Sponsored Article: Utah's Economy Under the Trump Administration
How will the Trump administration impact Utah businesses? No one knows exactly what will happen to the economy when Trump begins governing. But some Utah experts are willing to make some informed speculation. ...

Hatch Statement on Announcement of Intent to Nominate Steven Mnuchin to Head Treasury Department
U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee which oversees the Treasury Department, issued the following statement after President-elect Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Steven Mnuchin to serve as its Secretary:...

Salt Lake City Launches Grant Program to Help Seniors and Those with Disabilities Make Home Repairs
Mayor Jackie Biskupski and representatives from Housing and Neighborhood Development announced an expansion of the City’s Handyman Program; a program specifically designed to preserve housing in Salt Lake City for homeowners aging in place and people with disabili...

HealthEquity Creates Employment Opportunities in Rural Utah
HealthEquity, Inc. announced a new hiring initiative to meet both their needs and those of residents in Carbon County, Utah....