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Utah's Daily Policy Resource, Brought to you by Utah Policy

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Situational awareness - May 25, 2018

Good Friday morning from Salt Lake City.

Herbert says Utah's initiative process needs changes. Trump taps an anti-illegal immigrant Utahn for a position in the State Department. Why the North Korea summit fell apart.

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  TICK TOCK  

• 4 days until the last day to register to vote by mail for the 2018 primary election (5/29/2018)
• 5 days until the last day to change your party affiliation before the primary election (5/30/2018)
• 11 days until primary election mail-in ballots are sent to voters (6/5/2018)
• 18 days until in-person early primary voting begins (6/12/2018)
• 25 days until the final day to register to vote online or in person before the primary election (6/19/2018)
• 28 days until in-person early primary voting ends (6/22/2018)
• 32 days until the 2018 Primary Election (6/26/2018)
• 165 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
• 248 days until the first day of the 2019 Utah Legislature (1/28/2019)
• 893 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

  PODCASTS  

Subscribe to the award-winning "Bernick and Schott on politics" podcast, Utah's longest-running political podcast. Hosts Bryan Schott and Bob Bernick have more than 60 years of combined experience covering Utah politics. Plus, you'll get long-form interviews with Utah newsmakers. Subscribe (and leave a review) using iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.

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  HERE ARE THE STORIES WE'RE WATCHING TODAY  

What a week!

Mike Kennedy apologizes for Mitt Romney. Orrin Hatch is not going to Australia. Plus, the stupidest conspiracy theory ever! Bob Bernick and Bryan Schott run down the week in Utah politics [Utah Policy]

You can also download our award-winning week in review as a podcast to listen on the go.

Fixing Utah's petition process

Gov. Gary Herbert says Utah's system for putting citizen initiatives on the ballot needs an overhaul [Utah Policy].

Discharge petition

Rep. Mia Love says she's not getting pressure from GOP leadership for signing on to a measure to force a vote on several immigration bills in Congress [Utah Policy].

Political misstep

Bob Bernick says GOP Senate candidate Mike Kennedy made a huge political blunder when he apologized to a Baptist minister for Mitt Romney calling him a religious bigot [Utah Policy].

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  OTHER UTAH HEADLINES  

• President Donald Trump nominates Ronald Mortensen, an anti-illegal immigrant activist, to oversee the State Department program overseeing refugees and migration [Deseret News, Tribune].
  
  
• Gov. Gary Herbert says, even though he opposes the medical marijuana ballot initiative, he thinks Utahns should be allowed to vote on the measure [Tribune].
  
  
• Gov. Herbert says the inland port will go ahead as planned after talks with Salt Lake City officials broke down [Deseret News].
  
  
• Republicans in the Senate, including Sen. Orrin Hatch, are scrambling to squash President Trump's proposed tariffs on foreign vehicles [The Hill].
  
  
• Rep. John Curtis says expectations for President Trump's now-canceled summit with North Korea had gotten out of hand [Deseret News].
  
  
• Democratic Senate candidate Jenny Wilson offers her own tax plan as an alternative to the GOP tax cuts [Deseret News].

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  NATIONAL HEADLINES  

• President Trump canceled his summit with North Korea.
  
  
  • "He's not taking this guy's s**t." Why Trump decided to nix the summit [Politico].
    
    
  • Trump wanted to cancel the summit before North Korean leader Kim Jong Un could [NBC News].
    
    
  • South Koreans are angry about the cancellation, saying Trump threw away a chance at peace [Reuters].
    
    
  • North Korean officials say they're still willing to meet with Trump even after he canceled the summit [CNN].
    
    
• Congressional leaders get a confidential briefing on information related to the Russia probe [Associated Press].
  
  
• President Trump's lawyers nearly reached a deal for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller at Camp David in January [Wall Street Journal].
  
  
• Roger Stone, President Trump's longtime confidante, tried to get damaging information on Hillary Clinton from Wikileaks founder Julian Assange [Wall Street Journal].
  
  
• The House GOP set three new interviews in the probe into how the FBI handled the investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server [The Hill].
  
  
• House Republicans get closer to forcing a vote on several immigration measures [The Hill].
  
  
• President Trump signed a bill to roll back critical portions of the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, which will exempt dozens of banks from federal regulation [The Hill].
  
  
• Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is under fire for suggesting that schools can report undocumented immigrants [ABC News].
  
  
• Rising gas prices could put the brakes on economic enthusiasm [Politico].
  
  
• Mortgage rates are rising at a pace not seen in nearly 50 years [LMT Online].
  
  
• Home values across the nation rose 8.7% over the past year. Rent rates jumped 2.5% during the same period [PR Newswire].

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  ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY  

• 240 BC - First recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
  
  
• 1738 - A treaty between Pennsylvania and Maryland ends the Conojocular War with the settlement of a boundary dispute and exchange of prisoners.
  
  
• 1787 - The Constitutional Convention formally convenes in Philadelphia, when a quorum of seven states is secured.
  
  
• 1878 - Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore opens at the Opera Comique in London.
  
  
• 1925 - John Scopes is indicted for teaching Charles Darwin's theory of evolution in Tennessee.
  
  
• 1961 - President John F. Kennedy announces before a special joint session of the Congress his goal to initiate a project to put a "man on the Moon" before the end of the decade.
  
  
• 1977 - Star Wars is released in theaters.
  
  
• 1986 - Hands across America takes place.
  
  
• 2011 - The Oprah Winfrey Show broadcast its final original episode after 25 years on the air.

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Today At Utah Policy

Stupidest conspiracy theory ever - Bernick and Schott on politics Ep. 375 By Bryan Schott and Bob Bernick GOP Senate candidate Mike Kennedy apologizes to a Baptist minister Mitt Romney called a "religious bigot." What possible political benefit could he get from doing that? ...

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Love says she's not being pressured by GOP leadership to back off push for immigration vote By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Rep. Mia Love says the effort to force a vote on several immigration-related issues is about to pay off....

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Bob Bernick's notebook: Kennedy goes off the political rails By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor You know the old saying: "You never get a second chance to make a first impression."...

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Podcast: Bernick and Schott on politics Ep. 375 By Bryan Schott and Bob Bernick Bob Bernick and Bryan Schott tiptoe through a busy week in Utah politics....

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Herbert: Ballot initiative process needs to be fixed By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Gov. Gary Herbert suggested Utah's process for putting citizens initiatives on the ballot is broken. ...

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Utah prepares to transform population challenges into opportunities By Derek Miller, President and CEO, World Trade Center Utah Over the years, I've learned that you can start some amazing conversations with the phrase, "Here's a question for you..."...

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Weekly survey: Kennedy apologizes By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor GOP U.S. Senate candidate Mike Kennedy apologized to Pastor Robert Jeffress after his opponent, Mitt Romney, called him a "religious bigot."...

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Policy News

Casual Friday: Weekend Events & Outdoors Report Weekend EventsOutdoors Report--Salt Lake Tribune:How to survive - and have fun - in Moab during Memorial Day weekend--Salt Lake Tribune: Why is Utah's Alta Ski Area pushing for a tram up iconic Mount Baldy?-- KSL.com: Crowds, delays expected at Zion National Park this weeken...

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Rep. Curtis responds to news about North Korea summit  Representative John Curtis, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released the following statement after President Trump announced that he will not be meeting with North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12, 2018, as previously scheduled....

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Rep. Love bill signed into law Congresswoman Mia Love, a member of the House Financial Services Committee issued the following statement after attending a signing ceremony at the White House for S. 2155, The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act, which represents the most sig...

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Nominees announced for 4th District Juvenile Court vacancy The 4th District Judicial Nominating Commission has selected nominees for a vacancy on the 4th District Juvenile Court. ...

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Bishop statement on House passage of NDAA  The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5515, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019....

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Love, Kuster, Dingell language to address military sexual assault passed as part of NDAA Representatives Mia Love (R-UT), Annie Kuster (D-NH), and Debbie Dingell (D-MI) applauded the passage of a key provision from their legislation to protect military survivors of sexual assault as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). ...

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Wise Words

Common Sense

"Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Lighter Side

Communication

There's talk that Kim Jong Un might back out of his meeting with President Trump. When asked why, Kim said, "CuzTrump hears 'Yanny' and I hear 'Laurel.'" Jimmy Fallon

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