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Daily Briefing

Good Friday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 335th day of the year. There are 30 days remaining in 2017.

The clock:

• 32 days until candidates can declare their intent to gather signatures for the 2018 election (1/2/2018)
• 52 days until the opening day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (1/22/2018)
• 97 days until the final day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (3/8/2018)
• 98 days until the filing period for candidates in the 2018 election opens (3/9/2018)
• 104 days until the filing deadline for the 2018 elections (3/15/2018)
• 109 days until the statewide GOP caucus meetings (3/20/2018)
• 141 days until the GOP State Convention (4/21/2018)
• 207 days until the 2018 Primary Election (6/26/2018)
• 340 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
• 1,068 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

Today's political TL; DR -

• POLL: 53% of Utahns say they disapprove of President Trump's job performance, which is pretty much where he's been since he was elected [Utah Policy].
  
  
• President Donald Trump will reportedly slash the size of Bears Ears by 85%. Additionally, he'll reduce Grand Staircase-Escalante by half and split it into three separate areas [Utah Policy].
  
  
• Rep. John Curtis says he is optimistic that Congress will be able to pass a new spending bill to avoid a government shutdown [Utah Policy].
  
  
• What happened this week in Utah politics? Bob Bernick and Bryan Schott break it down for you in our weekly video [Utah Policy]. Here's a podcast of the program if you prefer [Utah Policy].
  
  
• United Police Lt. Justin Hoyal announces he's running for Salt Lake County Sheriff [Deseret News, Tribune].
  
  
• San Juan County is suing the federal government to gain control of a path through Recapture Canyon [Tribune].
  
  
• Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski clashes with the Salt Lake City Human Rights Commission over the firing of Yolanda Francisco-Nez, who headed up the city's Office of Diversity and Human Rights [Tribune].
  
  
• A new report says youth suicides in Utah jumped 141 percent from 2011 to 2015 [Deseret News, Tribune].
  
  
• Longtime Salt Lake Chamber president Lane Beattie is retiring after 15 years at the helm [Deseret News].

National headlines:

• The Senate will again try to pass their tax package on Friday. The process hit a snag on Thursday after deficit hawks raised concerns that the plan would blow a $1 trillion hole in the budget [Washington Post].
  
  
• If Republicans can pass the proposed massive tax cuts, it could trigger massive spending cuts in federal programs, including Medicare [Politico].
  
  
• President Donald Trump repeatedly pressured top Republicans over the summer to end the Senate probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election [New York Times].
  
  
• Russian trolls pushed offensive and racist content to Americans via Twitter during the 2016 election. Some of the posts accused Democrats of satanic practices and supporting rape [NBC News].
  
  
• President Donald Trump reportedly is telling close confidants that a government shut down would be good for him politically [Washington Post].
  
  
• The State Department warned the White House about possible protests and violence at US embassies after President Donald Trump retweeted some anti-Muslim videos this week [CNN].
  
  
• The White House is reportedly working on a plan to oust Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State. He will reportedly be replaced by current CIA Director Mike Pompeo [New York Times].
  
  
• The Trump administration is considering allowing former US intelligence officers to run privatized covert actions, including intelligence gathering and the rendition of suspected terrorists [BuzzFeed].
  
  
• Congress secretly paid nearly $100,000 to settle sexual harassment claims from two male staffers against former Congressman Eric Massa [ABC News].
  
  
• Sen. Al Franken is facing increasing pressure to resign after multiple women have come forward to accuse him of groping them [Washington Post].
  
  
• President Donald Trump complained Friday morning that the immigration history of a Mexican man who was acquitted in the murder of a San Francisco woman was not presented to a jury. Trump often highlighted the case while on the campaign trail in 2016 as part of his rhetoric against illegal immigration [Politico].
  
  
• A female candidate for Attorney General in Michigan raises the issue of sexual harassment in a campaign ad. She vows she won't show her penis to staffers because she doesn't have one [Detroit Free Press].
  
  
• Robots could replace a third of the American workforce by 2030 [Washington Post].

On this day in history:

• 1824 - Since no candidate won a majority of the votes in the electoral college during the presidential election, the US House of Representatives is given the task of deciding the winner. John Q. Adams was declared the winner in February of 1825.
  
  
• 1903 - The world's first drive-in gasoline station opened in Pittsburgh.
  
  
• 1913 - Ford Motor Company introduces the first moving assembly line.
  
  
• 1917 - Rev. Edward Flanagan founded Boys Town near Omaha.
  
  
• 1955 - In Montgomery, Alabama Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white man and is arrested for violating the city's racial segregation laws.
  
  
• 1969 - The first draft lottery in the United States is held since World War II.

Today At Utah Policy

53% of Utahns say they disapprove of President Trump's job performance By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor On the eve of President Donald Trump's visit to Utah next week, it's safe to say that Utah has still not morphed into Trump country....

The search for 'Mr. 82' - Bernick and Schott on politics Ep. 351 By Bryan Schott and Bob Bernick President Trump is coming to Utah to announce big reductions in the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. Our polling shows a slight majority of Utahns support those reductions....

With tax base for education eroding, Utahns still support fairness in credit union taxation By LaVarr Webb, Publisher Some 12 years ago, the Utah Legislature sent a resolution to Congress asking federal lawmakers to stop encroaching on state tax policy regarding financial institutions....

Curtis discusses Bears Ears, tax reform and avoiding a government shutdown By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Newly elected Rep. John Curtis says President Trump's decision to dramatically slash the size of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments just highlights how broken the process of protecting public lands is....

Podcast: Interview with Rep. John Curtis By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Rep. John Curtis discusses reports that President Donald Trump will dramatically slash the size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments....

Report: Trump to slash size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor When President Donald Trump travels to Utah on Monday, he will announce drastic reductions in the size of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments. ...

Weekly survey: Tax reform By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Republicans in Congress are trying to push their tax reform package through before Christmas. Do you think they'll do it? Do you support the tax reform package? Vote now in our weekly survey....

Podcast: Bernick and Schott on politics Ep. 351 By Bryan Schott and Bob Bernick Bob Bernick and Bryan Schott discuss the big news from the last week in Utah politics....

Policy News

Governor Mitt Romney announced as keynote speaker for 2018 Utah Economic Outlook & Public Policy Summit The Salt Lake Chamber, Utah's largest and longest-standing statewide business association, announced Governor Mitt Romney as the Keynote Speaker for the 2018 Utah Economic Outlook & Public Policy Summit....

Wise Words

Success

"It is not the going out of port, but the coming in, that determines the success of a voyage." Henry Ward Beecher

Lighter Side

Oh Yeah!

"It came out that national security adviser H.R. McMaster called President Trump an idiot, and said he had the intelligence of a kindergartner. And Trump said, "Oh, yeah? Then why am I reading at a first grade level? And tweeting at a sixth grade level!" Jimmy Fallon