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Local News Highlights: Daily Briefing

Morning must reads for Friday, July 14, 2017

Good Friday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 195th day of the year. There are 170 days remaining in 2017.

Utahns aren't sure who they trust more to handle health care. It will cost big bucks to replace Common Core in Utah. Republicans are scrambling to find support for the latest Trumpcare bill.

The clock:

• 11 days until ballots for the August primary are mailed to voters (7/25/2017)
• 32 days until the 2017 Utah primary election (8/15/2017)
• 116 days until the 2017 election (11/7/2017)
• 192 days until the opening day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (1/22/2018)
• 237 days until the final day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (3/8/2018)
• 480 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
• 1,208 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

Today's political TL; DR -

• NEW POLL: Utahns aren't sure who they trust more, Republicans or Democrats, to handle health care [Utah Policy].
  
  
• Bob Bernick shares some of his favorite stories about Rod Decker, who is retiring in September [Utah Policy].
  
  
• Don't expect Democrats (or any other party) to win the special congressional election in November. Congressional seats have flipped party control in special elections only 16% of the time since 1987 [Utah Policy].
  
  
• Sen. Orrin Hatch is firmly behind the new version of Trumpcare unveiled by Senate leaders on Thursday. Sen. Mike Lee is still undecided on whether he will support the legislation [Deseret News, Tribune].
  
  
• A state school board member says it will cost $100 million to replace Common Core, and the Utah Legislature will not foot that kind of bill [Tribune].
  
  
• The special congressional election in Utah's 3rd CD will cost more than $675,000, and counties will be on the hook for that bill [Deseret News].
  
  
• A libertarian think tank is warning Utah lawmakers to find another revenue source to pay for transportation because the state's gasoline tax won't be able to provide the required funding sometime in the next 15 years [Deseret News].
  
  
• Speaker Greg Hughes slams a controversial ad slamming the state's .05 DUI law [Tribune].
  
  
• Salt Lake City officials launch a public-awareness campaign against panhandling, saying giving money to panhandlers leads to drug use and violence [Deseret News, Tribune].
  
  
• Jon Huntsman Sr. says he'd try medical marijuana if he had the chance [Tribune].
  
  
• Salt Lake City is considering implementing more fireworks restrictions for the Pioneer Day holiday [Fox 13].
  
  
• Adobe announces a significant expansion in Utah. The company plans to build a new $90 million facility and add another 1,300 employees [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Tribune].

National headlines:

• The Senate health care bill will survive only if moderate Republicans jump on board. Moderates are getting huge financial concessions in exchange for their votes, but it remains to be seen whether they'll play ball [Axios]. Two Senators are already against the bill. If one more Republican defects, it will fail [Politico].
  
  
• Tucked away in the Senate health care measure is a provision to stabilize insurance markets. However, under the formula used in the legislation, only Alaska would qualifiy for hundreds of millions of dollars in federal money. Critics say the provision, dubbed the "polar payout," is designed to win support from Sen. Lisa Murkowski [Bloomberg].
  
  
• So much winning. President Donald Trump's budget plan would not boost the economy, nor would it eliminate the deficit within 10 years according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. The report casts doubt on whether Trump will be able to deliver on many of his populist promises made during the campaign [Washington Post].
  
  
• President Donald Trump's legal team is finding it difficult to mount a defense in the growing Russia probe for one big reason: Trump won't listen to them [Washington Post].
  
  
• Jared Kushner is reportedly urging the White House to push back harder against news about the meeting with a Russian lawyer that he also attended [Politico].
  
  
• White House aides helped Donald Trump Jr. craft a response to news that he, and others, met with a Russian lawyer offering damaging information about Hillary Clinton. Now, those same White House staffers may now face scrutiny from special counsel Robert Mueller [CNN].
  
  
• House Democrats are hatching a plan to force their Republican colleagues to cast public votes on issues related to the White House's alleged ties to Russia [Politico].
  
  
• Bawitdaba da bang da bang diggy diggy diggy...Kid Rock is teasing a possible run for U.S. Senate [The Hill].

On this day in history:

• 1789 - During the French Revolution, citizens of Paris stormed the Bastille prison and released the seven prisoners inside.

• 1798 - Congress passed the Sedition Act, making it a federal crime to publish false, scandalous or malicious writing about the U.S. government.

• 1921 - Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were convicted in Dedham, Mass., of killing a shoe company paymaster and his guard. (They were executed in 1927.)

• 1933 - All German political parties except the Nazi Party were outlawed.

Today At Utah Policy

Poll: Utahns aren't sure who they trust to handle health care By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Utahns aren't sure whether they think Republicans or Democrats would be better at handling health care legislation....

Bob Bernick's notebook: My favorite Rod Decker stories By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor News came this week that long-time TV reporter Rod Decker is going to retire in September....

Trump's Russia Lawyer Isn't Seeking Security Clearance, And May Have Trouble Getting One By Justin Elliott and Jesse Eisinger, ProPublica The ongoing investigations into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia involve reams of classified material. Yet Marc Kasowitz, the New York lawyer whom President Donald Trump has hired to defend him in these inquiries, told ProPublica through a spokesman th...

History says Republicans should hang on to Chaffetz's seat in November By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Bad news for Utah Democrats. Congressional seats rarely flip parties in special elections....

Weekly survey: Did the Trump campaign collude with the Russians? By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Donald Trump Jr. admitted this week he met with a Russian lawyer who promised to provide damaging information about Hillary Clinton as part of a Russian government effort to aid his father's campaign. ...

Policy News

Adobe to expand in Utah The Governor's Office of Economic Development announced Adobe will add up to 1,260 new high-paying jobs in Lehi and an initial estimated $90 million in capital investment to the state....

State launches Utah Search and Rescue assistance card The Utah Office of Outdoor Recreation, in partnership with the Governor's Office of Economic Development and the Division of Emergency Management, recently launched the Utah Search and Rescue Assistance (USARA) card program....

Wise Words

Courage

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T. S. Eliot

Lighter Side

New Poll

"According to a new poll, Americans find former FBI Director James Comey to be more trustworthy than President Trump. Also, more Americans prefer Pepsi to the bottle marked "rat poison". Seth Meyers