Local News Highlights: Daily Briefing Morning Must Reads for Wednesday, December 7, 2016

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Wednesday, December 7, 2016 - 10:30am

Utah Policy

Salt Lake City Weekly highlighted UtahPolicy.com Managing Editor Bryan Schott in their annual "Best of Utah" edition as "Best Political Schott in the Dark."

The editors said "If you have even one iota of interest in how this state and its cities are run, you should subscribe to or at least visit Utah Policy's site, where Schott curates local news and headlines five days a week in the Morning Must Reads. He also weighs in on the issues of the day with longtime political reporter Bob Bernick in more than 300 "Bernick and Schott on Politics" videos."

Local News Highlights: Daily Briefing

Morning Must Reads for Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Good Wednesday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 342nd day of the year. There are 24 days remaining in 2016.

A big shake-up in House committee assignments. Donald Trump named "Person of the Year." Utahns are wary of giving Sen. Orrin Hatch an eighth term in Washington.

The clock:

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

Ten talking points for Wednesday:

House Speaker Greg Hughes makes some major changes in legislative committee assignments for 2017 [Utah Policy].
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman is reportedly no longer in the running to be Secretary of State [Utah Policy].
Time Magazine names Donald Trump their "Person of the Year" for 2017 [Tribune].
A new poll shows Utahns like Sen. Orrin Hatch, but balk at the idea of him running for an eighth term in office [Tribune].
Gov. Gary Herbert is set to release his 2017 budget proposal on Wednesday morning. The plan includes more money for Utah's public schools and investments in public safety [Deseret News].
Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump's pick for Attorney General, could be a major roadblock for efforts to legalize marijuana use during the next four years [Politico].
With Hillary Clinton's popular vote lead over Donald Trump soaring to more than 2.6 million votes, Congressional Democrats are exploring ways to reform the Electoral College [Wall Street Journal].
Donald Trump's transition team reportedly requested a security clearance for Michael Flynn, the son of Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who will serve as Trump's national security advisor [CNN]. The younger Flynn was fired from the transition team after pushing fake news stories alleging that aides to Hillary Clinton were involved in a child prostitution ring [Washington Post].
Hospital groups say they could lose $165 billion if the Affordable Care Act is repealed. The repeal would also trigger "an unprecedented public health crisis" [Washington Post].
The Salt Lake City Council is questioning the request for an additional $350 million to cover cost overruns in the Salt Lake City Airport reconstruction project [Tribune, Deseret News].

On this day in history:

1787 - Delaware became the first state to ratify the Constitution.
1941 - Japan launched a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, catapulting the United States into World War II.

Today At Utah Policy

Hughes Shuffles the Deck with House Committee Assignments
By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor
Boy, are you going to need a program to know who all the new Utah House chairs are for standing and budget committees come the January general session....

Weekly Survey: Should Trump Dump Twitter?
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
President-Elect Donald Trump has been using Twitter to make some very controversial statements. Do you think he should quit the social media platform once he takes office in Janaury? Vote now in our weekly survey....

Why Trump Should Select Thomas Lee for High Court
By Golden Webb
A writer at National Review says Donald Trump could kill three birds with one stoneby appointingUtah Justice Thomas R. Lee to the U.S. Supreme Court: (1) reward thesignificantpercentageof Trump voters for whom the vacancy left byAntonin Scalia was their number one campaign i...

Report: Huntsman No Longer Being Considered for Secretary of State, Romney at Top of List (with video)
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
MSNBC's Morning Joe reported Tuesday morning that former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman was no longer being considered for Secretary of State in a Donald Trump administration....

What Were the Top Utah Political Stories from 2016
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Donald Trump? Evan McMullin? What do you think were the top Utah political news stories from 2016? Give us your nominations now....

Policy News

Governor Lowers Flags to Mark Pearl Harbor 75th Anniversary
As authorized by the President of the United States of America, Gov. Gary R. Herbert has requested the lowering of the Flag of the United States of America and the Flag of the State of Utah in honor of National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day....

Senators Introduce the Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship Act of 2016
Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), John Hoeven (R-ND), and Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced the Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship Act, a bill that would improve the business of Congress and increase the public’s understanding of its work by establishing a...

Utah Treasurer Damschen Announces County-by-County Unclaimed Property Data for First Time in Utah History
For the first time in Utah history, Utah State Treasurer David Damschen announced the county-by-county values of properties safeguarded by the Utah Division of Unclaimed Property. ...

Work Begins on new Moab Water Treatment Facility
Work begins this week at the site of the City of Moab’s new wastewater treatment facility....

Hatch, Wyden, Isakson, Warner Introduce Bill to Address Chronic Illness
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., along with Senators Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Mark Warner, D-Va., co-chairs of the Finance Committee Chronic Care Working Group applauded the introduction of S. 3504, the Creat...

Utah Farm Bureau Members Elect Farm and Ranch Leaders at Annual Convention in Layton
Members from Utah’s 28 County Farm Bureaus met recently in Layton to select leaders for the state’s largest farming and ranching organization....