Lawmakers readying for more special sessions in May and June. Your Monday morning political "cheat sheet" from UtahPolicy.com

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Situational awareness - May 4, 2020

Good Monday morning from Salt Lake City

Happy Star Wars Day!

TICK TOCK

57 days to the 2020 Utah primary elections (6/30/2020)

183 Days to the 2020 election (11/3/2020)

261 days to inauguration day (01/20/2021)

266 days to the start of the 2021 Utah Legislature (1/25/2021)

Here are the stories you need to pay attention to this morning:

TRIVIA WINNER

Several of our subscribers knew the answer to Friday's question was Alfred Cumming, who served as the legally appointed Territorial Governor of Utah Territory in 1857 and 1858.

Congratulations to Tina Mathieu, who was randomly selected as our winner. As such, she gets to ask this weeks trivia question on Friday.

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Today At Utah Policy

OTHER UTAH HEADLINES

Deseret News

Salt Lake Tribune

Other

NATIONAL HEADLINES

Moving goalposts

President Donald Trump said Sunday the death total from the coronavirus could go as high as 100,000. Just weeks ago, he predicted 60,000 deaths from the virus [New York Times].

Coronavirus response

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow says Congress may need to provide a third round of small business stimulus loan funding because of overwhelming demand [CNBC].

The federal government will begin shipping "tens of thousands" of doses of remdesivir this week. The experimental drug was found to shorten the duration of coronavirus in patients with severe cases [CNN].

Reopening America

President Trump continued to push for states to lift restrictions in order to get the economy running again [Washington Post].

New Jersey's governor says the pace of his state reopening will be driven by how much "knucklehead" behavior emerges as restrictions are relaxed [Bloomberg].

Racing to find a vaccine

Scientists working to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus have identified 14 possible vaccines to focus on for development [CNN].

President Trump predicted Sunday that the U.S. would have a vaccine for the novel coronavirus by the end of the year [The Hill].

Getting Congress back to work

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy unveiled a four-point plan to reopen Congress and get lawmakers back to work in Washington [Medium].

Blaming China

President Trump said China made a "mistake" and tried to cover up the virus outbreak [CNBC].

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday there's "enormous evidence" to support the theory that the coronavirus originated in a lab, but acknowledged the virus was not man-made [Axios].

A Department of Homeland Security report says China hid the severity of the coronavirus in the early stages of its outbreak in order to hoard medical supplies [AP].

Economy

The housing market is facing its next big crisis as May rents and mortgages are due [Washington Post].

J. Crew becomes the first major retailer to file for bankruptcy protection from the coronavirus pandemic [New York Times].

Economise Nouriel Roubini, who earned the nickname "Dr. Doom" during the last financial crisis, says he sees a weak economic recovery from the coronavirus, followed by inflation and then an economic depression [Bloomberg].

2020

Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden says his vice-presidential advisory committee is looking at more than a dozen women to be his running mate [CNN].

Murder hornets?

Asian giant hornets have been spotted in the U.S. The insects use their giant mandibles to tear off the heads of bees, and can wipe out a hive in a matter of hours. Victims say their sting feels like hot metal driving into the skin [New York Times].

BUSINESS HEADLINES

Policy News

More National Headlines

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1494 - On his second expedition to the New World, Columbus discovered Jamaica.

1776 - Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III.

1886 - Haymarket affair: A bomb is thrown at policemen trying to break up a labor rally in Chicago, killing eight and wounding 60. The police open fire into the crowd.

1904 - The United States begins construction of the Panama Canal.

1942 - The Battle of the Coral Sea began. It was a turning point for the Allies in World War II, with Japan losing 39 ships and the United States one.

1953 - Ernest Hemingway wins the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea.

1970 - The Ohio National Guard, sent to Kent State University, opens fire killing four unarmed students and wounding nine others.

1979 - Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

1989 - Iran-Contra Affair: Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted of three crimes and acquitted of nine other charges; the conventions are later overturned on appeal.

1998 - A federal judge sentences "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski to four life sentences plus 30 years after Kaczynski accepts a plea agreement sparing him from the death penalty.

Wise Words

"Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen."Ralph Waldo Emerson

Lighter Side

"No one wants eternal lockdowns. If I see another of my friends holding up a janky loaf of homemade bread on Instagram I'm going to run outside and lick a banister." - SETH MEYERS

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