Trouble viewing this email? Read it online

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

---

Situational awareness - April 16, 2018

Good Monday morning from Salt Lake City, and happy birthday to the Natural Bridges National Monument. Utah's first National Monument was established 110 years ago today by President Theodore Roosevelt.

Today is the deadline for ballot initiative organizers to submit signatures. Keep My Voice fails to get enough signatures to get on the ballot. James Comey unleashes a blistering attack on President Trump at the start of his book tour.

Thanks for subscribing to Utah's must-read daily political news roundup. If you have co-workers, friends, or family who would enjoy this newsletter, please have them sign up for our newsletter here.

Got a tip or story idea? You can send me a secure email at bryanschott@protonmail.com.

Tick Tock

• Today is the signature-gathering deadline for statewide ballot initiatives (4/16/2018)
• 5 days until the Utah GOP State Convention (4/21/2018)
• 12 days until the Utah Democratic State Convention (4/28/2018)
• 21 days until the final day a veto override session may begin (5/7/2018)
• 71 days until the 2018 Primary Election (6/26/2018)
• 205 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
• 288 days until the first day of the 2019 Utah Legislature (1/28/2019)
• 935 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

Take a minute and subscribe to the "Bernick and Schott on politics" podcast. Listen to Utah's best political analysis while you're on the go. Hosts Bryan Schott and Bob Bernick have more than 60 years combined experience covering Utah politics, so they bring you knowledge and insight that's unprecedented. You can subscribe using iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.

Here are the news stories driving Monday

Signature gathering deadline

The ballot initiatives aiming to secure a spot on the November ballot must turn in their signatures by 5 pm on Monday. Here's where they stand heading into the final day [Utah Policy].

Keep My Voice is muted

Backers for the Keep My Voice ballot initiative say they won't turn in any signatures, which confirms what many believed - that they wouldn't come close to qualifying for the ballot. Organizers say they'll try again in 2020 [Utah Policy].

A Romney primary?

Will GOP delegates at Saturday's Republican convention force Mitt Romney into a primary? Check out what our "Political Insiders" and readers had to say on the matter [Utah Policy].

Conventions heating up

Which candidates are left standing following the political conventions? Check out who remains with our 2018 Candidate Trackers.

Congressional races

Utah Senate

Utah House

Other Utah headlines

• Most incumbents prevailed at Saturday's county conventions, but Republican Sen. Brian Zehnder was forced into a primary [Tribune].
  
  
• House Speaker Greg Hughes hits back at critics over the controversial inland port legislation passed this last session [Deseret News].
  
  
• The Utah Board of Education approves new science education standards [Tribune].

National headlines

• The James Comey show kicked off with a prime-time interview on ABC. During the hour-long special, Comey said President Trump was "morally unfit" to hold that office, and it's "possible" the Russian government had material they could use to blackmail him [Politico].
  
  
• President Trump petitioned a federal judge to let him review materials FBI agents seized from the office of his longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen before criminal investigators get a chance to see them [Washington Post].
  
  
• Michael Cohen used the same Delaware company to pay off other women who were involved in sexual relationships with his clients. Federal prosecutors are examining the flow of money in and out of the company [Wall Street Journal].
  
  
• The U.S. will hit Russia with new sanctions on Monday for assisting Syrian leader Bashar Assad's use of chemical weapons on his own citizens [Associated Press].
  
  
• President Trump is reportedly furious that he is being portrayed as taking a hard line on Russia, including the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats in retaliation for the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain [Washington Post].
  
  
• A new poll shows the Democratic advantage over Republicans in the generic Congressional ballot has narrowed since January [Washington Post].
  
  
• More than 1/5 of spending by the Trump re-election campaign has been on legal fees. The campaign has doled out $835,000 for lawyers [BuzzFeed].
  
  
• Republicans are struggling to make the tax cut package they passed at the end of 2017 a winning issue ahead of the 2018 midterm elections [Bloomberg].
  
  
• Former first lady Barbara Bush is in "failing health" and has decided to forego additional medical treatment. Instead, she's opting for comfort care at her home [Houston Chronicle].

On this day in history

• 1818 - The U.S. Senate ratifies the Rush-Bagot Treaty, establishing the border with Canada.
  
  
• 1862 - The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, A bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia becomes law.
  
  
• 1881 - In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.
  
  
• 1908 - Natural Bridges National Monument is established in Utah.
  
  
• 1912 - Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.
  
  
• 1947 - Bernard Baruch first applies the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.
  
  
• 1963 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. pens his Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated for protesting against segregation.
  
  
• 2007 - Virginia Tech shooting: A gunman kills 32 people and injures 17 before committing suicide on the Blacksburg campus.

---

---

Today At Utah Policy

Signature deadline looms for ballot initiatives By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Monday at 5 pm is the deadline for backers of the ballot initiatives aiming for a spot on the November ballot to turn in the 113,000 signatures they need to qualify....

---

Will GOP delegates force Mitt Romney into a primary? By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Mitt Romney has already qualified for the GOP primary ballot through signature gatherers. Will Republican delegates force him into a primary election at Saturday's convention?...

---

Keep My Voice abandons their effort to get on the ballot; Organizers will try again in 2020 By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Keep My Voice is abandoning their effort to win a spot on the 2018 ballot....

---

2018 Utah candidate tracker - Congress By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor There's a U.S. Senate seat up for election in 2018 as well as all four U.S. House seats. Here's the list of candidates ahead of the Republican and Democratic state conventions....

---

2018 Utah candidate tracker - Utah Senate By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor 2018 means another election cycle is upon us. Half of the Utah Senate seats are up for election this year. Here's the list of candidates are either headed to a primary or secured a spot in the general election....

---

2018 Utah candidate tracker - Utah House By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor All 75 Utah House seats are up for election this year. Here's our running list of who has clinched the nomination, and who is in a primary election....

---

'North Korea style'? Weber County Republicans move to punish signature-gathering candidates at convention By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Some Republican candidates in Weber County are decrying convention rules that they say give candidates who eschewed the signature gathering route to get on the primary ballot an unfair advantage while severely punishing those who unsuccessfully tried to use the signature pat...

---

Manual override! - Bernick and Schott on politics Ep. 369 By Bryan Schott and Bob Bernick The Utah Legislature votes to hold their first veto override session since 2011....

---

Bob Bernick's notebook: The mainstream fights back By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor Some "mainstream" GOP delegates are preparing to fight back against what they perceive as inappropriate and disruptive actions by a minority of the party's State Central Committee....

---

---

Policy News

Utah tops social capital index of United States The Joint Economic Committee of the United States Congress issued a new report Wednesday, showing that Utah has the highest level of social capital of any state in the nation....

---

Seminar: Learn how to comply with dual-use and defense article/service regulations and trade sanctions Please join us for a practical, interactive, and application-oriented session regarding:...

---

Westminster announces Orn B. Bodvarsson, Ph.D., as the Bill & Vieve Gore School of Business Dean Westminster College is pleased to announce Orn B. Bodvarsson, Ph.D., as the new dean for the Bill & Vieve Gore School of Business. Bodvarsson comes to Westminster from California State University, Sacramento as the former special assistant to the provost and vice preside...

---

You're invited: General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) presentation Does your company conduct business in Europe? If you answered, "yes," don't miss the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) presentation, hosted by Parsons Behle Lab, a subsidiary of Parsons Behle & Latimer....

---

SLUG exec editor, restaurant owner SLCC's 2018 Distinguished Alumni Salt Lake Community College has named Angela Brown, executive editor of SLUG Magazine, and Manoli Katsanevas, owner of Manoli's restaurant, as SLCC's 2018 Distinguished Alumni award recipients....

---

Casual Friday: Weekend Events & Outdoors Report Weekend EventsOutdoors Report--Tribune:Utah resorts made do, out-of-state guests came through, to salvage a low-snow ski season--Tribune:Entrance fees to go up by $5 at Utah's national parks - and most others across U.S. - after feds scrap plan to double some of those charge...

---

Wise Words

Tomorrow

"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today." Abraham Lincoln

Lighter Side

New Weapon

"The Navy is calling for new weapons, so they can fight much more effectively against Russia. The No. 1 weapon they're asking for is "a different president." Conan O'Brien

---

This email is intended for newsletter@newslettercollector.com.
Update your preferences or Unsubscribe