Monday, November 24, 2014 - 63 Days to the 2015 Utah Legislatur​e - Monday's Utah Policy.com Political News Roundup

ocal News Highlights: Daily Briefing

Utah would benefit most from Obama's immigration orders. More "secret" bills on Utah's Capitol Hill. Utah's jobless rate up slightly.

Countdown:

• Days until the opening day of the 2015 Utah Legislature - 63
• Days to the final day of the 2015 Utah Legislature - 108
• Days to the 2015 Utah municipal primary elections - 260
• Days to the 2015 election - 344
• Days to the 2016 Iowa Caucus (tentative) - 420
• Days until the 2016 presidential election - 715

Monday's top-10 headlines:

1. Utah has the highest percentage of undocumented immigrants that would benefit from the president's executive actions on immigration [Tribune].
2. The flood of "secret" bills on Capitol Hill is showing no signs of slowing down [Utah Policy].
3. A report from a Republican-led House committee finds no wrongdoing by the Obama administration in the 2012 Benghazi attack [CNN]. 
4. The grand jury debating possible charges against a Ferguson police officer involved in the shooting death of a black teenager will reconvene on Monday [The Hill].
5. Utah's jobless rate moves upward slightly to 3.6% [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Daily Herald].
6. Mia Love is appointed to the House Financial Services committee [Tribune].
7. The Utah National Guard would be among the first to lose their Apache helicopters under a new plan from the Army [Tribune].
8. Kirk Jowers warns against efforts to gut the compromise reached by lawmakers and Count My Vote organizers [Tribune].
9. A group of gun control advocates deliver an online petition to Gov. Herbert's office calling on Utah to rethink its policy regarding guns on college campuses [Deseret News, Tribune].
10. Former Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry dies at the age of 78 [Washington Post].

On this day in history:

• 1871 - The National Rifle Association was incorporated.
• 1859 - British naturalist Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species," which explained his theory of evolution.
• 1963 - Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot and mortally wounded Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assissin of President John F. Kennedy.
• 1971 - Hijacker D.B. Cooper parachuted from an airline over Washington state with $200,000 in ransom. His fate remains unknown.

Today At Utah Policy

Flood of Secret Bills Not Slowing Down as Legislative Session Approaches
Do you know what your Utah State House and Senate members are up to as the 2015 Legislature approaches?Well, good luck with that....

75% of the 2014 Electorate was White
3/4ths of the voters who went to the polls in 2104 were white. That's just one of the fascinating numbers found in the exit polls from the just completed election....

Mike Lee's Lonely Fight Against a Lawless President
National Review's Joel Gehrke looks at Sen. Mike Lee's tireless (and often overlooked) efforts to resist Barack Obama's unconstitutional power grabs....

Somebody's Already Using Verizon's ID to Track Users
Twitter's mobile advertising arm enables its clients to use a hidden, undeletable tracking number created by Verizon to track user behavior on smartphones and tablets....

Inagural USTAR Confluence Sets Precedent for Future Conferences
The first annual USTAR Confluence, held Nov. 3-Nov. 4 at the James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology building at the University of Utah, was a successful demonstration of the innovation and commercial potential of applied research while providing an informative two days to...

Utah Policy/KSL Insider Survey: Reducing the Penalty for Drug Possession?
The Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice has an idea to help reduce the state's prison population - making simple drug possession a misdemeanor rather than a felony....

Jobs Report Shows Utah's Strong Performance Continues
Utah’s economy continues to rank among the strongest in the nation, according to new data released Friday. ...

Local Headlines

Salt Lake Tribune

Op-ed: Insiders working to kill 'Count My Vote' reforms

Utah likely to become more urban as millennials flock to technology

Obama orders may help Utahns the most

Paul Rolly: Could ghosts from the past be spying at BYU?

Moab energy company testing fracking method near Dead Horse Point, Canyonlands

Mia Love: Searching for stardom; a Mormon conversion

Utah would be among first to lose Apache helicopters under Army plan

Utah's Mia Love on committee overseeing banks

Utah Latinos celebrate Obama immigration orders

Deseret News

Frank Pignanelli & LaVarr Webb: Hospitality laws, tax increases and other issues in 2015 session

Robert Bennett: Controversial Keystone, immigration events are more about symbolism than substance

Drew Clark: Interfaith conference at Vatican unlocks beautiful language of natural law

Editorial: U.S. needs immigration reform, not immigration 'bad form'

Executive action brings 'temporary relief' for Utah immigrant families

Utah unemployment rate at 3.6 percent

Applicants for new immigration initiatives need to seek reliable legal help, wait for details

Salt Lake Mayor Ralph Becker now heads national group of city leaders

Other

Editorial: We need Hatch the statesman back (Daily Herald)

Op-ed: Obamacare, all lies and economic subterfuge (Standard-Examiner)

National Headlines

House files Obamacare lawsuit (Politico)

U.S. military role in Afghanistan will still be combat (Politico)

Obama doesn't rule out trip to Ferguson (The Hill)

SNL pokes fun at Obama executive action (The Hill)

Immigration move roils Nevada (The Hill)

Ferguson waits for grand jury decision with bated breath (Christian Science Monitor)

Former D.C. mayor Marion Berry passes at 78 (Christian Science Monitor)

Obama: Voters will want 'new car smell' in 2016 presidential race (CBS News)

House committee report that ruled out wrong-doing in Benghazi response 'full of crap:' Senator (New York Daily News)

Obama leaves Vegas after touting immigrant order (Washington Times)

Obama Defends His Use of Executive Authority on Immigration (New York Times)