Local News Highlights: Daily Briefing Morning must reads for Monday, March 13, 2017

Local News Highlights: Daily Briefing

Morning must reads for Monday, March 13, 2017

Good Monday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 72nd day of the year. There are 293 days remaining in 2017.

Utah lawmakers feeling some urgency to tackle tax reform this year. Salt Lake County picks 5 possible sites for a new homeless shelter. President Trump is set to unveil his budget proposal this week.

The clock:

• 16 days until the last day Governor Gary Herbert can sign or veto bills (3/29/2017)
• 68 days until the Utah Republican State Convention (5/20/2017)
• 96 days until the Utah Democratic State Convention at Weber State University (6/17/2017)
• 239 days until the 2017 municipal elections (11/7/2017)
• 315 days until the opening day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (1/22/2018)
• 360 days until the final day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (3/8/2018)
• 604 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
• 1331 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

Today's political TL;DR -

• Utah lawmakers are feeling some urgency to tackle tax reform sooner rather than later because there are some big budgetary challenges on the horizon [Utah Policy].
   
• Sen. Orrin Hatch continues to lead the charge for the Senate to confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, saying he hopes Democrats don't turn the process into an "election campaign" [Utah Policy].
   
• Our "Political Insiders" pick the best and the worst from the 2017 Utah Legislature [Utah Policy].
   
• Salt Lake County picks five possible sites for a new homeless shelter, two in South Salt Lake and three in West Valley City. They plan to narrow those down to a final pick by the end of the month [Tribune, Deseret News].
   
• Democrat Kathryn Allen has already raised more than $400,000 for her campaign against Rep. Jason Chaffetz in 2018 [Tribune].
   
• Utah refugees are worried as President Donald Trump's second executive order on immigration is slated to go into effect later this week [Deseret News].
   
• Here's a nice deep-dive into the first year in office for Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski. Biskupski says she loves being the mayor of Utah's capital city, but she does have her fair share of detractors [Tribune].
   
• Critics say Donald Trump is way behind the curve when it comes to filling many key federal offices, calling this the "slowest presidential transition is decades." Important jobs are going undone as Trump struggles to fill them [New York Times].
   
• President Donald Trump is set to release his budget proposal this week which will seek some of the biggest cuts in the federal workforce since World War II [Washington Post].
   
• Sen. John McCain says he wants President Trump to provide proof for his claims that former President Barack Obama ordered wiretaps on Trump Tower during the 2016 campaign or drop the accusations [Washington Post]. Democrat Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, sent a letter to the Justice Department asking for evidence to support Trump's wiretapping claims by Monday [Wall Street Journal]. Kellyanne Conway suggests the wiretapping may be even more extensive than Trump previously suggested [USA Today].
   
• Remember when Republicans gleefully called John Kerry a flip-flopper on the issues? Donald Trump leaves him, and everybody else, in the dust when it comes to reversing positions [Washington Post].
   
• The GOP plan for replacing Obamacare would hit poor, older Americans in rural areas hard financially [Wall Street Journal]. The Congressional Budget Office could release their scorecard on the GOP health proposal as early as Monday [New York Times].
   
• Republican Congressman Steve King is under fire for a controversial tweet about immigration that read, in part, "We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies" [The Hill].

On this day in history:

• 1781 - The planet Uranus was discovered by British astronomer William Herschel.
• 1852 - "Uncle Sam" made his debut as a cartoon character in the New York Lantern.
• 1868 - The impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson began in the U.S. Senate.
• 1933 - Banks throughout the United States began to reopen after a week-long bank holiday declared by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in a successful effort to stop runs on bank assets.
• 1990 - Soviet Congress of People's Deputies formally ended the Communist Party's monopoly rule, establishing a presidential system and giving Mikhail Gorbachev broad new powers.

Today At Utah Policy

Lawmakers ready to tackle difficult issue of tax reform this year
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Sen. President Wayne Niederhauser sees the 2017 Legislative session as a missed opportunity to address tax reform....

Hatch: Gorsuch will interpret the law rather than wield it as a political weapon
By Golden Webb
In an op-ed, Sen. Orrin Hatch offers a favorable assessmentof Judge Neil Gorsuch's fitness for the Supreme Courtand criticizes Senate Democrats for what he says istheir recent history of trying to turnthe confirmation process for High Court nominees intoan "election campaign...

'Political Insiders' pick best, worst of the 2017 Legislature
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Utah lawmakers passed 535 pieces of legislation this past session that ended last week....

The Trump Administration's antipathy toward a free press is frightening
By Kim Burningham
The anger, disdain, ridicule, and retaliation exhibited by President Trump and his administration towards the press is frightening!...

Policy News

Rep. Stewart named Vice Chair on House Appropriations Interior Subcommittee
Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) has been named the Vice Chair of the powerful House Appropriations Interior Subcommittee....

Hatch, Daines, Fischer introduce critical rural broadband bill
This week, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), along with Senators Steve Daines (R-MT) and Deb Fischer (R-NE), introduced the Highway Rights-of-Way Permitting Efficiency Act of 2017, a bill that will streamline broadband permitting in existing highway rights-of-way&nb...

Press release: Rep. Love takes a stand for veteran families
Congresswoman Mia Love has reintroduced the Fair Treatment for Families of Veterans Act (H.R. 1495), which would extend the end date of certain veteran’s benefits....

Ben Hart named GOED Deputy Director
Val Hale, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, has appointed Benjamin Hart as deputy director.  ...

Local Headlines

Salt Lake Tribune

Op-ed: Problems of lower alcohol limit are many, and the advantages are non-existent

Op-ed: With legislators falling short, the people must step up to fund schools

Op-ed: Rep. Love on right track with over-the-counter birth control

Editorial: Teacher-bonus bill will be a test-based test

Editorial: The good and the bad of the 2017 Utah Legislature

Gehrke: What Gov. Gary Herbert would have said if I were his speechwriter

Winder at center of conservative infighting over online tax

New shelter to be in West Valley or South Salt Lake - cities already bearing plenty of state burdens, residents say

Utah senator pointed to his daughter - a plural wife - to push passage of polygamy bill

Prepping to gain control of thousands of acres of public land, Utah lawmakers create 'Department of Land Management'

ICE detains Kenyan immigrants - a Utah couple who believed they were complying with the law

Meet the Democrat running against Rep. Jason Chaffetz - and raising loads of money

Reviews mixed from environmental advocates on legislative action for clean air, water

'Sister Wives' say it may be time for polygamists to leave Utah

Critiques of her leadership style aside, Biskupski says she 'loves' being mayor

Rio Grande homeless assessment: Half from outside Utah, many have been to jail or prison

Deseret News

Frank Pignanelli & LaVarr Webb: If space aliens watched the lawmaking process

Op-ed: Instead of protesting, let's talk

Patricia Jones: Should Salt Lake County be a pizza or a doughnut?

Hal Boyd: A conservative case for Donald Trump?

Op-ed: Border tax will harm Utah small businesses and consumers

Op-ed: Legislature's expansion of educational options is just the beginning

Op-ed: Keep Utah children healthy and families strong: Protect Medicaid

Editorial: Jon Huntsman Jr. demonstrates selfless civic service once again

Editorial: Utah Compromise represents the best of what can happen when competing interests listen to each other

Jay Evensen: Only a few get to be 'in the room where it happens'

West Valley, South Salt Lake under consideration for third homeless resource center

Here are all the countries that have lower blood-alcohol limits than Utah

Kenyan couple in Utah for a decade faces deportation; ICE says they overstayed visitor visas

Utah budget boils down to people, services

Utah's US attorney included in mass resignation request

2017 Legislature: Here's what happened - and what didn't

Lawmakers brought humor and celebration into policy discussions

2017 changes to liquor laws join other significant state actions

Many Utah refugees frightened by impending executive order

Affordable housing incentives bill awaits governor's signature

Legislature takes action on law enforcement, criminal justice reforms

Other

Editorial: Gov. Herbert should sign these bills (Daily Herald)

16 bills that failed or passed during the 2017 legislative session (Daily Herald)

2017 Utah legislature: Food tax hike avoided but still no rest for working-poor (Standard-Examiner)

Legislators, economist say food tax was destined to fail (Standard-Examiner)

Ogden restaurant operators cheer, lament Utah alcohol measures (Standard-Examiner)

Republican leaders call for unity, continued momentum at annual Lincoln Day Dinner (Logan Herald Journal)

National Headlines

Assad calls U.S. forces 'invaders', but still hopeful on Trump (Reuters)

NYT leader: Washington Post slogan 'sounds like the next Batman movie' (The Hill)

Obstacles mount for tax reform (The Hill)

Can Ronna Romney McDaniel unite a fractured Republican Party? (McClatchy)

For Solace and Solidarity in Trump Age, Liberals Turn the TV Back On (New York Times)

Republicans still battle each other even after gaining power (Associated Press)

Through his budget, a bottom-line look at Trump's new Washington (Washington Post)

Donald Trump Jr., running the family business, says he has nearly 'zero contact' with his father (Washington Post)

Calif. man carrying Mace arrested on White House grounds after scaling fence (Washington Post)

Trump Wants Faster Growth. The Fed Isn't So Sure. (New York Times)

EPA to study whether its emissions tests are vulnerable to cheating (Christian Science Monitor)

Wise Words

Just Continue
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." Winston Churchill

Lighter Side

GOP Health Care Plan
"New research says that Neanderthals used to relieve pain by chewing on a plant containing the main ingredient in aspirin. Or as that's now being called, "the Republican healthcare plan." Conan O'Brien