Morning must reads for Thursday, February 16, 2017

Local News Highlights: Daily Briefing

Morning must reads for Thursday, February 16, 2017

Good Thursday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 47th day of the year. There are 318 days remaining in 2017.

A fight may be brewing over a bill establishing a runoff in some primary elections. Some Republicans are urging Rep. Jason Chaffetz to start investigating Donald Trump's White House. A Colorado group takes out newspaper ads to lure the Outdoor Retailers Show away from Utah.

The clock:

• 12 days until President Trump is scheduled to addresses a joint session of Congress (2/28/2017)
• 21 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature (3/9/2017)
• 264 days until the 2017 municipal elections (11/7/2017)
• 629 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
• 1356 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

Here are the stories making news in politics this morning:

• There may be a fight in the Legislature brewing over a bill establishing a runoff for some primary elections. The current legislation calls for a runoff if candidates reach 35%, but some Republicans in the House think that number is too low [Utah Policy].
   
• Rep. Jason Chaffetz wants an investigation into who leaked classified information that led to the resignation of National Security Adviser Gen. Michael Flynn [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Politico]. 
   
• A Colorado group takes out half-page newspaper ads in Utah lobbying the Outdoor Retailers Show to abandon Salt Lake City over the attitude toward public lands shown by state leaders [Utah Policy].
   
• Rep. Brad Daw wants to allow cities and counties to boost sales taxes to fund road projects [Utah Policy, Tribune].
   
• The House approves a bill removing race and gender when considering candidates for Utah judges [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune].
   
• The Senate advances a bill that would remove the requirement to have a certain number of Democrats on some state boards and commissions [Utah Policy, Tribune]. 
   
• Some Congressional Republicans are pushing Rep. Jason Chaffetz to unleash Oversight Committee investigations on the Donald Trump White House [Politico].
   
• Andrew Puzder withdraws as President Donald Trump's nominee for Labor Secretary [Washington Post].
   
• Gov. Gary Herbert says he supports a proposal to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education and hopes to discuss the Bears Ears National Monument with the Trump administration when he visits Washington next week [Associated Press].
   
• Rep. Mike Winder's proposal to give teachers in low-income schools a salary boost barely passes a House committee [Tribune, Deseret News].
   
• What?! When Donald Trump made surprise calls to the Air Force general in charge of the F-35 jet program to discuss the ballooning cost of the program, the CEO of Boeing was listening in on the call. The only problem is the F-35 is manufactured by Boeing's chief rival, Lockheed [Bloomberg].
   
• U.S. intelligence officials are withholding some information from President Trump because they are fearful it could be leaked or that the White House is compromised [Wall Street Journal].

On this day in history:

• 1923 - The burial chamber of King Tutankhamen's recently unearthed tomb was unsealed in Egypt.
• 1948 - NBC-TV aired the first nightly newscast, "The Camel Newsreel Theatre," which consisted of Fox Movietone newsreels.
• 1959 - Fidel Castro became premier of Cuba a month after the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista.

Today At Utah Policy

Threshold for runoff elections could derail bill addressing plurality
By Bob Bernick and Bryan Schott
Many politicos believed the SB54 plurality fight was over with this legislative session after the Utah Republican Party’s Central Committee voted last Saturday to drop its federal lawsuit against the dual-pathway to the primary ballot law.Not so fast....

House approves measure that prohibits consideration of race and gender in judicial nominations
By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor
In his seven years in office, Gov. Gary Herbert has been criticized for not appointing more women and minorities to the state court bench....

Chaffetz wants probe into who leaked information that brought down Flynn
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Rep. Jason Chaffetz wants the Justice Department to investigate who leaked the classified information that led to the resignation of former National Security Advisor Gen. Michael Flynn....

Lawmakers move forward with proposal to remove requirement that Democrats sit on some state boards
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
The Utah Senate moved one step forward with a measure that would reduce, or eliminate, Democrats on some state boards and commissions....

Weekly survey: Did paid protesters disrupt Chaffetz's town hall meeting?
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Rep. Jason Chaffetz claims that paid protesters disrupted his town hall meeting last week. Do you believe his claims? Vote now in our weekly survey....

Colorado group takes out newspaper ads in Utah urging Outdoor Retailers Show to move
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
A Colorado group has taken out half-page ads in Utah newspapers trying to lure the Outdoor Retailers show away from Utah....

Proposal would allow cities and counties to boost sales taxes for road projects
By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor
When Utah County residents roundly voted down the Utah Transit Authority quarter-cent sales tax hike several years ago, local cities were in a bind....

Colbert rips Chaffetz for refusal to investigate Flynn's communications with Russia
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Rep. Jason Chaffetz has once again drawn the satirical brickbat of Stephen Colbert, this time over his disinclination to investigate former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's contacts with Russia....

Policy News

Expanding FMLA will negatively impact Utah's small businesses and employees
Utah’s small businesses are the lifeblood of our economic success and provide hundreds of thousands of jobs for Utah families....

Downtown Rising action plan
Local leaders unveiled the 2017 Downtown Rising Action Plan at the Eccles Theater, one of the signature projects identified in the original Downtown Rising plan, launched in 2007....

Free Enterprise Utah supports freedom of contract
A group of Utah business leaders has formed a new coalition, Free Enterprise Utah, to stand-up for the freedom of businesses and employees to define their relationship without government interference....

Local Headlines

Salt Lake Tribune

Bill to give teachers at low-income schools a bonus clears Utah House committee without a vote to spare

Holladay City leaders propose taking a pledge to pay online sales taxes

Utah House votes to ban considering race, gender when nominating judges

Salt Lake City vision includes public market, streetcar

Senate poised to OK removing party diversity rules from state boards

Business coalition forms to defend 'noncompete' clauses

Street-legal ATVs could be coming to Salt Lake County roads

Proposal would allow local sales-tax hike for roads, not transit

Bill would require elected city leaders to reside in their city

Muslims, Mormons viewed more favorably in America today than in 2014, survey finds

Johnson 'can't answer' in Swallow trial, will get another chance Thursday

Deseret News

Kirk Jowers: SB 235: An innovative public-private partnership is already having a real impact

Op-ed: Income tax hike would kill jobs

Dan Liljenquist: Leaks from the intelligence community

Natalie Gochnour: Invest in rural Utah to help with public land disagreements

Hannah C. Smith: Hannah C. Smith: Sen. Hatch is key to Gorsuch's confirmation

Jay Evensen: Raising taxes on food is a bad idea

Editorial: Be friends, not enemies, in trying to keep Outdoor Retailer show in Utah

'You're getting warmer' - Pew studies Americans' feelings toward religious groups, including Mormons

Jay Evensen: Should Utah end the guessing game for drinkers?

Is Salt Lake City one of the country's healthiest places?

Downtown Rising wish list revealed, includes a new school

Bill pushes for street-legal OHV use in Salt Lake County

Substance abuse treatment, intervention bill on hold

Bill removes gender, race from judicial nomination process

Salary bonuses proposed for teachers in high-poverty schools

Chaffetz calling for investigation of 'mishandling' of classified information in reporting on Trump

Jeremy Johnson jailed for contempt after refusing to testify in Swallow trial

League of Cities and Towns trust should have been terminated in 2012, agreement says

Pressure over public lands pushes effort to move Outdoor Retailer show from Utah

Other

Peterson fielded broad range of questions at Wednesday's town hall (Standard-Examiner)

National Headlines

A bleak week for Obamacare (Politico)

Senate nixes Obama-era gun rule (The Hill)

'I don't want problems' with Trump, says Venezuela's Maduro (Reuters)

OCC student suspended after filming teacher saying Trump's election was 'an act of terrorism' (Orange County Register)

Major Blow to Obamacare Mandate: IRS Won't Reject Tax Returns That Don't Answer Health Insurance Question (Reason)

Trump promises Israel that Iran will never get bomb (AFP)

Andrew Puzder withdraws as a labor secretary nominee (CNN)

Phoenix officials turn down petition to adopt sanctuary city status (FOX News)

DeVos: Protesters show hostility to change, new ideas in education (Washington Post)

Humana exit highlights uncertainty about ObamaCare replacement plan (The Hill)

Trump Meets With Retail CEOs to Discuss Taxes, Jobs, And Economy (NBC News)

Wise Words

Be Patient
"The two most powerful warriors are patience and time." Leo Tolstoy

Lighter Side

Migration
"A recent study found that the number of monarch butterflies migrating to Mexico from the U.S. has dropped by 27 percent. Apparently the butterflies are afraid if they go from the U.S. to Mexico, they won't be allowed back in." Conan O'Brien