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Situational awareness - September 11, 2019

Good Wednesday morning from Salt Lake City

Thanks for reading Utah's must-read daily political news rundown. Please encourage your friends and colleagues to sign up for our emails.

Here are the stories you need to pay attention to this morning:

• Overall, Utahns trust Republicans more than Democrats on gun policy, but women say they trust Democrats more according to our new poll.
• President Trump fires national security advisor John Bolton.
• Republicans narrowly hang on to a North Carolina congressional seat.

18 years ago today

I was anchoring the morning news on one of our local public radio stations when I heard NPR's Carl Cassell announce that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. My mind immediately thought of a small aircraft hitting the building. I had no idea how wrong those mental images would turn out to be.

TICK TOCK

Days to the 2019 Utah municipal elections: 55 (11/5/2019)

Days to the first day of the 2020 Utah Legislature: 138 (1/27/2020)

Days to the Utah presidential primaries: 174 (3/3/2020)

Days to the 2020 Utah primary elections: 286 (6/23/2020)

Days to the 2020 election: 419 (11/3/2020)

Today At Utah Policy

OTHER UTAH HEADLINES

Deseret News

• State and federal lawsuits filed against AISU, former board members, officers
• Mitt Romney calls on FDA to consider recalling e-cigarettes
• GOP businessman Jeff Burningham announces run for Utah governor
• Utah mom denied legal CBD suffering 'court-ordered pain,' advocate says
• Is there a role for Congress to play in the air pollution fight?
• Sen. Mitt Romney 'unhappy' about John Bolton ouster as security adviser
• Jeff Burningham, Utah governor candidate: 'It's time to bring game-changing leadership to Utah'
• Religion enters Salt Lake City politics as mayoral candidates face both criticism and support

Salt Lake Tribune

• Sen. Mitt Romney suggests recall of e-cigarettes amid reports of associated lung diseases
• Jeff Burningham declares his candidacy for Utah governor
• Salt Lake County really attracts young adults, but its high housing costs repel others
• Former UTA fare collector charged with stealing more than $70k
• A Beaver County Waste Management employee misused up to $38K, new audit shows
• Utah woman says her legal CBD use has put her at risk of losing custody of her daughters
• Salt Lake City officials celebrate new safety improvements at Pioneer Park
• Signature gathering starts for Utah term limits initiative

Other

• Does input even matter to Utah leaders? 'Absolutely,' Park City's legislator says in advance of public event (Park Record)

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NATIONAL HEADLINES

I mustache you to go

President Donald Trump fired national security advisor John Bolton on Tuesday. Trump is now looking for his fourth national security advisor in three years [CNN].

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Close call

Republicans narrowly hold on to a North Carolina congressional seat in a special election. President Trump won the district by 12 points in 2016, but Republican Dan Bishop wins by more than two percentage points [WaPo].

The slim GOP win should raise some red flags for Republicans heading into 2020 [Politico].

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Polls, polls, polls!

President Trump trails all five top-tier Democrats in a hypothetical 2020 matchup [WaPo].

6 in 10 Americans say President Trump does not deserve another term in office [CNN].

President Trump's approval rating drops below 40% in three new polls [Newsweek].

President Trump's approval ratings are now lower than when Republicans lost control of the House in 2018 [The Week].

Texas could be a toss-up in 2020, according to a new poll showing Hispanic voters could be a decisive factor next year [Univision].

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Trump's finances

President Trump promised he'd release "extremely complete" details of his finances but did not offer any details or timeline for the disclosure [Politico].

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Boring but important

California passes a law requiring Uber and Lyft to treat contract workers as employees. The bill could upend the gig economy [NYT].

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Trade war

China decides to exempt some American goods from tariffs [Reuters].

A new report estimates Trump's trade war with China has cost the U.S. 300,000 jobs [Yahoo Finance].

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Homelessness

President Trump is pushing for a crackdown on homeless camps in California. Aides are suggesting moving the homeless to government-backed facilities. Critics say Trump's sudden interest in the camps is a 2020 campaign tacting and not a serious policy proposal [WaPo].

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American well-being

The share of Americans with health insurance dropped in 2018, despite a strong economy [NYT].

Median household income rose last year at its slowest pace in four years. However, the number of Americans in poverty fell for the fourth year in a row [AP].

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BUSINESS HEADLINES

• Fast-growing Divvy expands free money management tools (Deseret News)
• New job network targets rural Utah workforce (Deseret News)
• New Overstock CEO Jonathan Johnson weighs in on Patrick Byrne leaving, future of company (Deseret News)

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Policy News

Unite for Term Limits (U4TL) commences gathering signatures for citizen initiative
On September 9, 2019, the elections branch of the Utah Lieutenant Governor's Office announced that the U4TL can begin gathering signatures for the term limit citizen initiative. Without the elections branch'sapproval, U4TL would be unable to gather signatures.

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EDCUtah announces FY 19's economic development successes and award winners
During its annual meeting held September 10, the Economic Development Corporation of Utah celebrated significant successes of the past fiscal year. In addition, recognized community members Carlos Braceras, Dean Luikart, and Salt Lake Community College for their outstanding leadership in economic development.

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Cicero Group welcomes Jill Jobbins to senior advisors
Cicero Grouphas named Jill Jobbins, principal at Jill Jobbins Advisory, to its council of senior advisors.

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More National Headlines

• Liberal Supreme Court justices vote in lockstep, not the conservative justices (USA Today)
• PolitiFact Butchers Fact Check On Trump And Ralph Northam (Daily Caller)
• Nurse: I Witnessed the Infanticide Ralph Northam Defended (PJ Media)
• Prosperity breeds idiots (First Things)
• US household income finally matches 1999 peak, while poverty rate hits lowest point since 2001 (Associated Press)
• Biden Aims to Use Debate to Question Warren's Corporate Work (Bloomberg)
• Can Kamala Harris recapture the lost magic? She gets her shot Thursday (Seattle Times)
• When Profanity Hits the Campaign Trail (The Wrap)
• US drops 40 tons of bombs on IS-'infested' island in Iraq (Associated Press)
• Google Hit With Sweeping Demand From States Over Ad Business (Bloomberg)
• This could 'end very badly': Trump officials warn on mortgage finance (Politico)

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ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1609 - Henry Hudson discovers Manhattan and the indigenous people living there.

1789 - Alexander Hamilton is appointed the first Secretary of the Treasury.

1857 - The Mountain Meadows massacre: Moron settlers and Paiutes massacre 120 pioneers at Mountain Meadows, Utah.

1944 - The Allied invasion of Germany begins near the city of Aachen.

1950 - President Harry Truman approved military operations north of the 38th paralell during the Korean War.

2001 - Two hijacked aircraft crash into the World Trade Center in New York City, while a third smashes into The Pentagon, and a fourth into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania in a series of coordinated suicide attacks by 19 members of al-Qaeda. A total of 2,996 people are killed.

2012 - The U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya is attacked, resulting in four deaths.

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