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Daily Briefing

Good Thursday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 299th day of the year. There are 66 days remaining in 2017.

The clock:

• 12 days until the 2017 election (11/7/2017)
• 88 days until the opening day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (1/22/2018)
• 133 days until the final day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (3/8/2018)
• 376 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
• 1,104 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

Today's political TL; DR -

• Bob Bernick profiles Mark Thomas, the new chief of staff for the Utah Senate [Utah Policy].
  
  
• Sen. Mike Lee says in a televised interview that he's "certain" President Donald Trump has lied, but he doesn't think that should distract conservatives from accomplishing their policy goals [Utah Policy].
  
  
• President Trump's voter fraud commission is gathering data on Americans, but security experts say it's unlikely they'll be able to keep that personal information safe [Utah Policy].
  
  
• The Utah Transit Authority adopts a tentative budget for next year that includes borrowing $88.5 million, even though the agency has $2 billion in debt. One out of every three dollars the UTA spends goes toward debt service right now [Deseret News, Tribune].
  
  
• Count My Vote organizers will hold a series of public hearings on their proposed ballot initiative to end the convention system for nominating candidates in favor of direct primaries [Deseret News, Tribune].
  
  
• A group of conservative state lawmakers are launching an effort to abolish the death penalty. The group includes former Utah legislator Steve Urquhart [Tribune].
  
  
• Federal prosecutors drop another criminal charge against former Utah Transit Authority board member Terry Diehl [Deseret News, Tribune].
  
  
• Utah County has the highest rental rates in the state according to a new study [Daily Herald].
  
  
• Leaders in Western states argue that management of the greater sage grouse should be left to individual states instead of the federal government [Deseret News].

National headlines:

• Cambridge Analytica, the data firm used by the Trump campaign during the 2016 campaign, contacted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange seeking access to thousands of Hillary Clinton's emails kept on a private server while she was secretary of state [CNN].
  
  
• As Congressional Republicans push forward with their tax reform plan, but there are six issues that could derail that effort [Politico].
  
  
• A group of Republicans are threatening to derail the tax reform effort if a plan to get rid of the state and local tax deduction is included [CNN].
  
  
• Republicans shouldn't expect any help from Democrats on tax reform. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says if the GOP crashes and burns on this issue, it will likely flip the house to Democratic control [Politico].
  
  
• Former Vice President Joe Biden says he's not ruling out a run for president in 2020 [ABC News].
  
  
• President Donald Trump will declare the opioid crisis as a public health crisis on Thursday but will stop short of declaring it a national emergency [USA Today].
  
  
• Retiring Sen. Jeff Flake says he won't be "vindictive" toward President Trump's agenda in Congress, even though the two men have serious differences [Politico].
  
  
• President Donald Trump lashes out at Flake on Twitter following his announcement that he won't run again in 2018 [ABC News].
  
  
• A record number of Americans support legalizing marijuana in the U.S., including a majority of Republicans [Gallup].
  
  
• President Donald Trump is changing the GOP and his critics have two choices - either give in or give up  [New York Times].
  
  
• Allies of Sen. Mitch McConnell are starting to openly attack former White House strategist Steve Bannon. Bannon is hoping to oust McConnell as Senate Majority Leader in 2018 [Washington Post].
  
  
• The final batch of secret documents from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy will be released on Thursday [New York Times].
  
  
• Fishy! in 2014 President Donald Trump's longtime business associate Michael Cohen sold four New York buildings to anonymous buyers for millions of dollars in cash. Experts say the transactions raise red flags because they could be part of a money-laundering scheme [McClatchy].
  
  
• Former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly is in negotiations with Sinclair Broadcasting to host a new show. Sinclair owns nearly 200 TV stations across the country [NBC News].
  
  
• Five women have accused prominent journalist Mark Halperin of sexual harassment [CNN].
  
  
• Ready to give Amazon.com the ability to open your front door while you're not home? [Recode]
  
  
• A record number of retail stores have closed during 2017 [CNN Money].

On this day in history:

• 1774 -The first Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia.
  
  
• 1775 - King George III of Great Britain goes before Parliament to declare the American colonies in rebellion, and authorizes a military response.
  
  
• 1776 - Benjamin Franklin departs America for France on a mission to seek French support for the American Revolution.
  
  
• 1825 - The Erie Canal, America's first man-made waterway, was opened, linking the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River.
  
  
• 1861 - The Pony Express officially ceases operations.
  
  
• 1881 - The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral takes place at Tombstone, Arizona.
  
  
• 1936 - The first electric generator at Hoover Dam goes into full operation.
  
  
• 2001 - Congress passes the USA PATRIOT Act into law.

Today At Utah Policy

Mark Thomas moves from the Utah Elections Office to the Utah Senate By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor When you personally helped bring down the state's top law enforcement officer and been in court battles with some of the most powerful politicians around, what is next for you?...

Sen. Mike Lee: 'I'm certain' President Trump has lied (with video) By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Sen. Mike Lee says even though President Donald Trump doesn't always tell the truth, it shouldn't derail conservatives from pushing their political agenda....

Guest opinion: Modernizing Utah's oil & gas oversight will help clear the air By Deborah Burney-Sigman, executive director, Breathe Utah Oil and gas air pollution is a serious problem in Utah but a new rulemaking from the Utah Department of Environmental Quality will help by modernizing and improving the state's oversight of oil and gas operations....

So, uh, I guess we need to protest Thursday? By Jared Whitley Though the Thor films have not been among my favorites from the Marvel Universe, I'm really looking forward to the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok....

CYBER24 Episode 4: Wolf in sheep's clothing - business email compromise By Marty Carpenter How many emails do you get a day? Studies show the average American received nearly 100 emails each day and many would say that's a slow morning at the office....

The Voter Fraud Commission wants your data - but experts say they can't keep it safe By Jessica Huseman and Derek Willis, Pro Publica The voter-fraud-checking program championed by the head of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity suffers from data security flaws that could imperil the safety of millions of peoples' records, according to experts....

Weekly survey: Will Mia Love win in 2018? By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams joined the race to challenge Rep. Mia Love in 2018 last week. Will he, or another challenger, knock off the two-term Republican? Give us your thoughts in our weekly survey....

Policy News

Top 5 reasons to attend the Salt Lake Chamber's Government Affairs Bootcamp The Salt Lake Chamber's 2nd Annual Government Affairs Bootcamp is quickly approaching....

GOED appoints Life Science Director The Governor's Office of Economic Development announced that Clark Cahoon, fund manager for the Technology Commercialization and Innovation Program, has been appointed as the life science cluster director. ...

USTAR awards industry partnership program grant to address wastewater issues USTAR recently awarded an Industry Partnership Program (IPP) grant for a project that aims to solve wastewater issues with a technology that could also create bioenergy....

Trade mission connects Utah companies to Middle Eastern markets Gov. Gary R. Herbert is leading a delegation of 19 Utah companies on a trade mission to Amman, Jordan and a trade mission to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel this week. Jordan and Israel are gateway countries for businesses interested in expanding into Middle Eastern mark...

Wise Words

Equality

"The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal." Aristotle

Lighter Side

Busy Town

"For the last 24 hours, Donald Trump has been the president of busy town. This morning [Oct 12], he signed an executive order to get rid of some key provisions of Obamacare. For instance, the care part." Stephen Colbert