The NRA may kill a concealed carry bill on Utah's Capitol Hill. Wednesday's Utah political briefing from UtahPolicy.com

Local News Highlights: Daily Briefing

Morning must reads for Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Good Wednesday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 39th day of the year. There are 326 days remaining in 2017.

The NRA may scuttle a bill to allow Utahns to carry a concealed weapon without a permit. Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams did much better at the polls than other Democrats in Salt Lake County. Rep. Jason Chaffetz says he discussed Bears Ears with President Donald Trump.

The clock:

• 20 days until President Trump addresses a joint session of Congress (2/28/2017)
• 29 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature (3/9/2017)
• 272 days until the 2017 municipal elections (11/7/2017)
• 637 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
• 1364 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

Ten talking points for Wednesday:

1. A Republican Senator on Utah's Capitol Hill threw a lobbyist for the NRA out of their office on Tuesday afternoon. The reason? The NRA is threatening to blow up a bill allowing Utahns to carry concealed weapons without a permit over an issue very few gun owners car about [Utah Policy].
    
2. Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams did better at the polls than quite a few of his Democratic colleagues. We broke down the numbers and found McAdams won 10 more legislative districts in 2016 than the Democrats captured [Utah Policy].
    
3. Rep. Mike Noel wants to create an independent director of the school trust lands who would be required to act in the best financial interest of Utah's school children [Utah Policy].
    
4. Utah Democrats name the members of a task force to plot their way out of the political wilderness [Utah Policy].
    
5. Rep. Jason Chaffetz says the first thing he talked about during his meeting with President Donald Trump is the Bears Ears National Monument [Deseret News, Tribune]. Chaffetz has also signed on as the co-sponsor of a bill to abolish the U.S. Department of Education [Daily Herald].
    
6. Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams says lawmakers need to pony up to fund the treatment part of justice reform or just scrap the program completely [Tribune, Deseret News].
    
7. House Speaker Greg Hughes isn't happy that the Outdoor Retailers Association is trying to dictate public policy to Utah officials on public lands with their threat to take the profitable show elsewhere [Deseret News].
    
8. A federal appeals court hears arguments over the decision to temporarily block President Trump's executive action on immigration. The court could rule as soon as Wednesday [Washington Post].
    
9. Senate Republicans drop the hammer on Sen. Elizabeth Warren during the debate over Sen. Jeff Sessions' nomination to be Attorney General. Warren attempted to read a 1986 letter from Coretta Scott King urging the Senate to reject Sessions' bid to become a federal judge. Senate Republicans said that Warren was impugning Session's character, and she has been sidelined from the rest of the debate [Wall Street Journal].
    
10. A new poll finds Democratic voters across the U.S. want their party's elected officials to stop Donald Trump no matter the cost [Politico].

On this day in history:

• 1587 - Mary, Queen of Scots, was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England after being implicated in a plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.
• 1692 - A doctor in Massachusetts Bay Colony said two village girls were possibly bewitched, a charge that set off the Salem witch trials.
• 1999 - The Senate heard closing arguments in President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial.
• 2002 - The  Olympic Winter Games opened in Salt Lake City.

Today At Utah Policy

Analysis: McAdams won 10 Republican-controlled House seats in 2016
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Oh, what could have been! Utah Democrats picked up one seat in the Utah House in the 2016 election. They might have had a lot more if they had followed Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams' lead....

Noel wants to create independent administrator for school trust lands
By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor
When it comes to public land policy, paranoia can run high....

Weekly survey: Will the Outdoor Retailers Show leave Utah?
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Organizers for the Outdoor Retailers Show say they are considering moving their bi-annual trade show to another state because of the attitude toward public lands from Utah's leaders. Do you think the massive trade show will leave? Let us know what you think....

Why did a Utah Senator toss a lobbyist for the NRA out of their office?
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Ironically, the NRA may be the very reason a bill allowing Utahns to carry concealed weapons without a permit does not pass the legislature this year....

Utah Democrats form task force to plan their future path
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
The Utah Democratic party has chosen 14 people who will chart the path forward for Utah's minority party....

Policy News

An open letter to Utah's Congressional leaders
The Salt Lake Chamber and World Trade Center Utah issued an open letter (below) to Utah's congressional delegation, urging them to intervene on behalf of Utah's businesses community. In the letter, local leaders share their concern about recent trade and immigration executiv...

New report highlights need for improved Medicaid oversight
A recent report from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office found that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services continues to rely on inaccurate, incomplete, and untimely Medicaid data....

Senate leaders applaud action by White House to stop big government 'fiduciary rule'
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), along with U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson (R-Ga), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) praised action by President Donald Trump to preserve access to retirement planning for middle-income American families by...

Lee introduces bill to lower federal construction costs
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the Davis-Bacon Repeal Act, a bill that would save American taxpayers billions in construction costs....

Local Headlines

Salt Lake Tribune

Op-ed: Thanks, Rep. Chaffetz, for dropping lands-disposal act

Op-ed: Thank you, Utah leaders, for standing up for refugee women

Editorial: SB54 is legal, and Utahns want to keep it that way

New BYU Pathway offers online higher education to Mormons and others worldwide

Salt Lake County Mayor McAdams: fund drug treatment or scrap justice reforms

House hears the deaf, votes to change how law refers to them

Legislature passes safety-net spending bills

House doctors reach compromise on opiate overdose bill

U., BYU professors file motion asking to support immigration order lawsuit

Utah business leaders worried about Trump actions on immigration, trade

Is proposed tax increase 1% or 17.5%? Depends on what you count, which could affect $750M ballot initiative

Chaffetz urges Trump to revoke Bears Ears National Monument designation

Lawmakers support bill aimed at curbing bullying of teachers

Bill seeks to outlaw animal gas chambers

Proposal advances for new child abuse registry

Utah legislators vote to make changes to polygamy law but would keep it a felony

Salt Lake City's golf woes face tough crowd in council

Gehrke: Utah Republicans aren't satisfied with merely losing, they want to be humiliated

Patagonia drops out of Outdoor Retailer over Utah leaders' opposition to Bears Ears

Deseret News

Op-ed: Thomas Jefferson and the Muslim ban

Op-ed: It is time for a drastic change in how we regard narcotics

Richard Davis: No, Mr. President, the United States and Russia are not moral equivalents

Editorial: BYU Pathway Worldwide offers a path forward for higher education

Which Utah colleges do the most to lift students out of poverty and into wealth?

After 4 years of waiting, a jury is in place to hear the case of John Swallow

Chaffetz says Bears Ears was first topic in meeting with Trump

Herbert urges Utahns to help homeless through income tax checkoff program

Report: U.S.-Mexico trade war would hurt Utah more than many other states

S.L. County Mayor says justice reforms can't stay without drug treatment funding

Bill barring remote abortion pill dispensing passes in House

Retailer threats to leave Utah shouldn't dictate public policy, House speaker says

Euthanasia reform moves forward in the senate

Resolution on daylight saving time exemption dies in committee

U., BYU law professors join court brief over Trump executive order on immigration

LDS Church creates worldwide education program in historic announcement

Report: Solar jobs growth hot in Utah, more than twice national average

Bigamy bill gains House committee approval

Other

Jason Chaffetz co-sponsors bill to abolish U.S. Department of Education (Daily Herald)

Utah lawmaker proposes bill requiring the testing of all sexual assault kits (Park Record)

Op-ed: Why would a Northern Utah lawmaker want to kill rebates for rooftop solar panels? (Standard-Examiner)

Editorial: 2017 session shows Utah legislators are crummy listeners (Standard-Examiner)

National Headlines

Betsy DeVos Confirmed as Education Secretary; Pence Breaks Tie (New York Times)

DeVos foes promise to make her job hell (Politico)

Rahm Emanuel: Too many Dems care more about being right than winning (Chicago Tribune)

Kelly Tells Lawmakers He Regrets Not Waiting on Entry Ban (Bloomberg)

GOP senators propose cutting back on legal immigration to US (The Hill)

US House speaker says Obamacare replacement will pass this year (Reuters)

Pelosi tamps down talk of impeachment (The Hill)

How President Trump Can Move On From His First Tense Days In Office (Fortune)

Trump administration to approve final permit for Dakota Access pipeline (Washington Post)

Debating Whether Dodd-Frank Is Worth Saving (Bloomberg)

GOP Plan to Overhaul Tax Code Gets Held Up at the Border (Wall Street Journal)

Wise Words

Certainty
"To be absolutely certain about something, one must know everything or nothing about it." Henry A. Kissinger

Lighter Side

Foreign Relations
"Trump is causing all kinds of trouble this week. In fact, Israel just had to apologize to Mexico, after their prime minister tweeted support for Trump's border wall. So not only has Trump failed to solve the Middle East conflict, somehow he's dragged Mexico in the middle of it." Jimmy Fallon