Good Tuesday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 346th day of the year. There are 19 days remaining in 2017.

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

Tuesday, December 12, 2017 - 10:30am

Utah Policy

Daily Briefing

Good Tuesday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 346th day of the year. There are 19 days remaining in 2017.

The clock:

21 days until candidates can declare their intent to gather signatures for the 2018 election (1/2/2018)
41 days until the opening day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (1/22/2018)
86 days until the final day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (3/8/2018)
87 days until the filing period for candidates in the 2018 election opens (3/9/2018)
93 days until the filing deadline for the 2018 elections (3/15/2018)
98 days until the statewide caucus meetings for Utah Republicans and Democrats (3/20/2018)
130 days until the GOP State Convention (4/21/2018)
196 days until the 2018 Primary Election (6/26/2018)
329 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
1,057 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

Today's political TL; DR -

A late surge pushed Republican John Curtis's total spending past Democrat Kathie Allen in November's special Congressional election. The total expenditures from all candidates in that election were just under $2.5 million [Utah Policy].
Sen. Brian Shiozawa suddenly resigns from the Utah Senate after accepting a job with the Trump administration [Utah Policy].
Shiozawa's resignation puts SD8 in play for a possible Democratic pickup in the 2018 election [Utah Policy].
A Utah judge rules a plan to switch to partisan elections for state school board members violates Utah's Constitution [Tribune].
Advocates deliver 20,000 chocolate chips to Sen. Orrin Hatch's office to urge him to prioritize finding funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program [Deseret News].
UDOT Director Carlos Braceras is working to modernize transportation in Utah [Utah Policy].
Salt Lake City's master transit plan aims to make public transit use more widespread by 2040 [Tribune].
Utah's high school graduation rate increases to 86 percent [Daily Herald, Deseret News, Tribune].
The Salt Lake City Council is urging other cities in Utah to follow their lead and focus on building more affordable housing [Deseret News].
The number of payday loan stores in Utah drops after lawmakers approve changes that give people in a financial pinch more options [Associated Press].
Utah wins an international road safety award for dropping the legal blood alcohol level to the lowest in the nation [Deseret News].
The nasty inversion hanging over the Wasatch Front is expected to stick around for a couple of weeks [Deseret News].

National headlines:

It's game day in Alabama. Nobody seems to know what is going to happen in Tuesday's special Senate election because polls are all over the place [New York Times].
President Donald Trump's legal team plans to push for the FBI to appoint a second special counsel to investigate special counsel Robert Muller's investigation [Axios].
GOP lawmakers are racing to hammer out a final tax agreement by the end of the week [Politico].
The GOP tax proposal could make anonymous "dark money" political contributions tax deductible [CNN].
56 female members of Congress want the Oversight Committee to probe allegations of sexual misconduct by President Donald Trump [The Hill].
New York Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand calls on President Donald Trump to resign following allegations he sexually assaulted several women [CNN].
A federal judge rules that the Trump administration cannot block transgender Americans from enlisting in the armed forces. The Pentagon is scrambling to get an emergency order to halt those enlistments on January 1 [Politico].
Democrats are warning that some pension plans are facing insolvency, and could lead to a government shutdown if Congress doesn't move to fix the problem [Politico].
The bomber who detonated a pipe bomb in New York City on Monday morning says he was retaliating for U.S.-led airstrikes on ISIS targets in Syria [New York Times].
The New Yorker Magazine fires star reporter Ryan Lizza over allegations of "improper sexual conduct" [CNN].
President Donald Trump signed a directive to send U.S. astronauts back to the moon [New York Times].
Merriam-Webster picks "feminism," as 2017's "Word of the Year" [Merriam-Webster].
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway's use of the term "alternative facts" was named Yale Law School's "Most Notable Quote of 2017" [Associated Press].

On this day in history:

1787 - Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1870 - Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the first black member of the House of Representatives.
1901 - Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal (the letter "S" in Morse Code) in Newfoundland.
1913 - Two years after it was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa was recovered in a Florence, Italy hotel room.
1917 - Father Edward Flanagan founds Boys Town in Nebraska.
1941 - Adolf Hitler declares the imminent extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery.
2000 - The U.S. Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore.

Today At Utah Policy

Candidates in November's CD3 special election spent nearly $2.5 million combined
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Republican John Curtis outspent Democrat Kathie Allen in November's special congressional election, but just barely....

Shiozawa's resignation puts SD8 into play for Utah Democrats
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Sen. Brian Shiozawa's sudden resignation from the Utah Legislature gives Utah Democrats hope at possibly picking up an extra legislative seat in 2018....

Give us your nominations for the top Utah political news stories of 2017
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
What do you think were the top Utah political news stories of 2017? Was it President Trump slashing two national monuments? Jason Chaffetz resigning? Give us your nominations....

Carlos Braceras leads Utah into new mobility era
By Muriel Xochimitl, UtahPolicy.com Contributor & President of X-Factor Strategic Communications
Whether we drive on the roads, take a bus, or ride a bike, transportation is front and center in our daily lives. When it's working well, we don't notice it. When it's not, we do....

Sen. Brian Shiozawa resigns from the Utah Legislature
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Republican Sen. Brian Shiozawa has accepted a job with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services....

Policy News

Utah's public high school graduation rate climbs for fifth straight year
Last spring 40,100 students graduated from Utah's public high schools....

Fox Files: 'Unlocking more potential from within'
I'm often asked to speak about the state of Utah's economy....

Utah Department of Public Safety Launches News Website
The Utah Department of Public Safety recently launched DPS News to help make residents aware of public safety interests....