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Situational awareness - March 6, 2018

Good Tuesday morning from Salt Lake City. There are 3 working days remaining.

Our Schools Now proposes a deal with lawmakers. Lawmakers introduce the state's $16.7 billion budget blueprint. A former Trump adviser has a very public meltdown.

Tick Tock:

2 days until the final day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (3/8/2018)3 days until the filing period for candidates in the 2018 election opens (3/9/2018)9 days until the filing deadline for the 2018 elections (3/15/2018)14 days until the statewide caucus meetings for Utah Republicans and Democrats (3/20/2018)46 days until the Utah GOP State Convention (4/21/2018)53 days until the Utah Democratic State Convention (4/28/2018)112 days until the 2018 Primary Election (6/26/2018)244 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)328 days until the first day of the 2019 Utah Legislature (1/28/2019)974 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

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Here's what's driving the day:

Let's make a deal!

Our Schools Now has offered to drop their ballot initiative that hikes income and property taxes to increase school funding if lawmakers agree to put a $0.10 per gallon tax hike on November's ballot. The proposal also includes a property reform [Utah Policy].

Utah's $16.7 billion budget

Lawmakers unwrap a budget proposal that boosts spending over this year by $600 million [Utah Policy].

Fixing the GOP mess

Internal GOP fissures surfaced as a House committee advanced a bill to fix the electoral quandary caused by the Utah GOP Central Committee last weekend [Utah Policy].

The Utah GOP's white whale

Lawmakers may yet again try to repeal SB54, but it would only take effect if the Count My Vote ballot initiative passes in November [Utah Policy].

Some kinda record

Sen. Orrin Hatch moves into seventh place on the list of longest-serving U.S. Senators [Utah Policy].

This is a weird story

Former British spy Christopher Steele alleges in an unreleased memo that Russia pressured President Donald Trump into not picking Mitt Romney for Secretary of State [Utah Policy].

Other Utah headlines:

Republicans on a House committee move ahead with Rep. Mike Noel's bill to rename a southern Utah highway after President Donald Trump [Deseret News].
The House Transportation Committee pruned back a sweeping transportation bill to reform the Utah Transit Authority. Gone is a hike in vehicle registration fees, except for electric and hybrid cars [Deseret News].
The Senate passed a watered-down bill to create a new governing body to control development in Salt Lake City's northwest quadrant [Deseret News].
The House approved a bill allowing the removal of signs in restaurants signifying the establishment is not a bar [Deseret News].
A controversial bill to keep big cities from managing watersheds outside of their boundaries was killed in a Senate committee on Monday [Deseret News].
Sen. Jim Dabakis' bill to get rid of the state school board sailed through the Senate on Monday. The proposed constitutional amendment now heads to the House [Tribune].A House committee voted down Rep. Steve Handy's "red flag" bill which proposed a mechanism to remove guns from people who could be a risk to others [Deseret News].
A bill to fine cities that don't have enough affordable housing, with the money going to pay for homeless shelters in other Utah cities, moves ahead, but changes may be coming [Deseret News].
The House passes Rep. Robert Spendlove's Medicaid expansion bill that includes work requirements and a cap on state spending [Deseret News, Tribune].
A bill to end non-compete contracts for news media workers moves out of a Senate committee and now heads to the floor for a final round of voting [Deseret News].
Whoops! The Utah State Bar wants to know how they ended up sending boobs to every lawyer in the state [Fox 13, Deseret News].
Utah's undocumented immigrants are still waiting for Congress to fix the DACA issue after the deadline for ending the program set by the Trump administration passes [Tribune].
The cost of rebuilding the Salt Lake City airport is approaching $3.6 billion, but it's still on time and on budget [Deseret News].

National headlines

Breaking overnight! North Korea says it is willing to discuss ending its nuclear weapons program and would be open to normalizing relations with the United States [Washington Post].
Despite pressure from Republicans in Washington, President Trump says he won't back down from the steel and aluminum tariffs he proposed last week [New York Times].
Europe is poised to retaliate against the U.S. tariffs by imposing their own targeting items produced in key Republican districts [Bloomberg].
Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran will resign on April 1 due to health reasons, triggering a special election. Both of the Mississippi Senate seats will be on the ballot this year [CNN].
Democrats are swarming the polls in Texas in that state's primaries, with turnout up more than 6% in the state's biggest counties, while Republican turnout is basically unchanged from the last midterm elections [Politico].
The $130,000 payment from President Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, to a porn actor to keep her quiet about an affair she had with Trump was flagged as suspicious by a bank. Cohen also complained to friends that he had not yet been reimbursed for that payment [Wall Street Journal].
STOP TALKING! Former Trump adviser Sam Nunberg gave a series of totally insane television interviews after he announced he was refusing to comply with a subpoena from special counsel Robert Muller. In these interviews he made a series of increasingly bonkers claims:
That Trump "may have done something during the election" with the Russians when asked if he thought Mueller had evidence against the president [Mediaite].
Mueller thinks Trump is a "Manchurian candidate," which is a reference to the Frank Sinatra movie about an American soldier brainwashed by a foreign nation [Mediaite].
He believes former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page was colluding with the Russians, calling him a "scumbag" [Mediaite
Trump brought all of this upon himself because he's "an idiot" for firing former FBI director James Comey [Mediaite].
Teachers on strike. Teachers in West Virginia have been on strike for more than a week to protest their low pay and shrinking benefits [Vox]. Oklahoma teachers may walk out next month after lawmakers there voted down a bill to boost their pay [CNN].
Boring but important: The U.S. is poised to be the world's largest oil producer sometime in the next decade [Wall Street Journal].

On this day in history

1820 - The Missouri Compromise is signed into law by President James Monroe. The compromise allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state, brought Maine into the Union as a free state, and made the rest of the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase slavery-free.
1836 - Battle of the Alamo: After a thirteen-day siege by an army of 3,000 Mexican troops, the 187 Texas volunteers, including frontiersman Davy Crockett and colonel Jim Bowie, defending the Alamo are killed and the fort is captured.
1857 - The Supreme Court rules in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case that a slave could not sue for his freedom even though his owner died in a so-called "free state."
1869 - Dimitri Mendeleev presents the first periodic table to the Russian Chemical Society.
1951 - The Trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg begins.

Today At Utah Policy

Legislators unveil 2019 budget blueprint By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Legislators took the wraps off their $16.7 billion budget on Monday. The 2019 spending blueprint is $600 million more than last year....

Voters would decide on gas tax hike to fund schools under proposed deal between lawmakers and Our Schools Now By Bryan Schott and Bob Bernick Legislative sources tell UtahPolicy.com that Our Schools Now is negotiating with lawmakers on a proposal that could pump $300 million into Utah's schools every year....

House proposal would repeal SB54 if Count My Vote fails to pass in November By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor State Rep. Dan McCay the original co-sponsor of SB54 has his own idea on how to fix the mess the Utah Republican Party now finds itself in because of a rules change by a minority on the State Central Committee made 10 days ago....

Proposal to fix GOP party chaos advances By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor The "quixotic" minority members of the Utah Republican Party's Central Committee passed a controversial bylaw a week ago just to get the party back into court, one of those members told a legislative hearing Monday morning....

Hatch moves into 7th place on list of longest-serving Senators By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Sen. Orrin Hatch moved into the #7 slot on the list of people who have served the longest in the U.S. Senate on Monday....

Special offer for UtahPolicy.com readers By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor UtahPolicy.com readers can get a special discount on a subscription to Political Wire, an essential source for political news junkies....

Former British spy Christopher Steele alleges Russia pressured Trump from picking Romney as Secretary of State By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Former British spy Christopher Steele, author of the controversial dossier that alleges connections between the Trump campaign and Russia authored another memo with a bombshell allegation: Russia blocked President Trump from naming Mitt Romney as Secretary of State....

Policy News

Local and international political and business leaders visit UVU Utah Valley University's Office of Global Engagement welcomes speakers and honored guests to the UVU Diplomatic Conference on International Trade Relations beginning at 8:30 a.m. in UVU's Grande Ballroom, room SC-105 on Monday, March 12. The event is free and ...

Fox files 'Somewhere over North America' I'm typing this installment of the Fox Files from 30,000 feet en route between SLC and Chicago, where I'll be attending a seminar hosted by the publishers of "Site Selector" magazine on investment strategies. I'll be excited to share what I learn from the seminar in a future...

U.S. News magazine ranks Utah among best states overall On Monday, February 26, U.S. Magazine released its 2018 Best State Rankings, and Utah ranks number three overall....

You're invited: Diplomatic luncheon with the Ambassador of Ghana World Trade Center Utah, in partnership with the Governor's Office of Economic Development and the Salt Lake Chamber, is delighted to host a diplomatic luncheon welcoming His Excellency Dr. Barfuor Adjei-Barwuah, Ambassador of Ghana....

Local Headlines

Salt Lake Tribune

Editorial: The Legislature wants to insert itself between doctor and patient, again

Utah principal used money meant for other schools to send his students to community college

Lawmakers, Our Schools Now unveil possible compromise on education spending as negotiation overshadows budgeting process

Utah Board of Education finds few defenders as bill to abolish it sails through the Senate

Gehrke: Let's make a deal - education proponents would be wise to find compromise on school funding initiative

As the number of female interns in the state Legislature grows, lawmakers and coordinators work to ensure they're not sexually harassed

Utah House committee rejects bill that would restrict gun access for people at risk of shooting themselves or others

State sales tax on groceries will stay. Senate panel defeats repeal bill that had passed the House.

Proposed tax increases (mostly) removed from bill to revamp UTA, but electric and hybrid cars would pay more

Legislation advances to ignore possibly illegal GOP rules change, keep party on ballot

While their GOP colleagues like the idea, Utah Democrats denounce plans to name scenic parks highway after Donald Trump

House passes weaker Medicaid expansion than one proposed by a more generous voter initiative

Senate advances bill to create inland port on northwest Salt Lake City land

Senate approves bill that would fund police, other first responders in cities that host homeless shelters

Deseret News

Editorial: Now is the time for Congress to craft lasting immigration reform

House panel endorses bill to thwart GOP candidate nomination rule

Utah House committee approves bill to raise bar for early elementary school reading

Sweeping transportation bill scaled back, still hikes fees on electric, hybrid vehicles

Our Schools Now, lawmakers could agree to back gas tax increase

Utah Senate committee defers action on controversial water reforms

Bill would increase penalty for sexually exploiting a minor

Salt Lake airport's 'once-in-a-lifetime' redesign now approaching $3.6 billion

Senate committee OKs sex ed bill

Bill would increase penalties for attacking police, corrections officers

Senate panel advances bill restricting noncompete contracts in Utah broadcast media

Utah lawmakers rushing through bill creating grant program for Olympic venue projects

Utah House passes Medicaid expansion bill

Resolution to eliminate State School Board passes Utah Senate

Senate advances bill to control inland port in Salt Lake City

Utah House passes bill allowing restaurants to remove signs that say they aren't bars

Ex-911 director for Salt Lake City pleads guilty to DUI

Bill to fine Utah cities lacking affordable housing advances

Trump National Highway designation clears House committee

Utah House panel ices bill to remove guns from violent, unstable people

Other

Op-ed: Utah could soon have a red flag law (Standard-Examiner)

Layton city councilman pleads guilty to DUI charge, will not step down (Standard-Examiner)

Awkward rap video, education funding discussed at legislative town hall (Logan Herald Journal)

Logan City School District reacts to Innovations High allegations (Logan Herald Journal)

National Headlines

CNN Travels to Thailand to Speak with Prostitute Who Claims to Have Dirt on Trump (Grabien News)

Australian diplomat whose tip prompted FBI's Russia-probe has tie to Clintons (The Hill)

If Andrew McCabe lied, could he be charged like Michael Flynn? (The Hill)

Pentagon's mysterious project breathes new life into UFO research (WTOP)

The tyranny of algorithms is part of our lives: soon they could rate everything we do (Guardian)

Now Russia accuses US of election meddling as minister claims Washington is trying to sow chaos to bring down Vladimir Putin (The Sun)

Oscars Drop to All-Time Low 26.5 Million Viewers (Hollywood Reporter)

Trump faces pushback on tariffs but says he will not back down (Reuters)

Who Should Be Armed in Florida Schools? Not Teachers, Lawmakers Say. But Maybe Librarians. (New York Times)

OPEC wants to talk with rival US shale drillers to learn lessons of downturn (CNBC)

FBI agent Peter Strzok was told of possible breach into Clinton's server but didn't follow up, sources say (FOX News)

Wise Words

Persuasion

"In the end, people are persuaded not by what we say, but by what they understand." John C. Maxwell

Lighter Side

Kardashian Bloomer

"Kylie Jenner's baby daughter has made her debut on Snapchat at one month old. In the Kardashian world, that is known as a "late bloomer." Conan O'Brien

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