Monday's news at a glance: Utahns overwhelmingly oppose reinstating the sales tax on food. The legislature's limited Medicaid expansion could cost $72 million over two years but may save hundreds of millions in the future. "Executive time" dominates Trump's schedule.
Trivia winners: Quite a few of you knew that Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad was the longest-serving governor in the history of the U.S. He now serves as Ambassador to China. The first three readers to submit a correct answer were:
If you have a stumper for Friday's trivia, hit me up here.
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Today is the 35th day of the year. There are 330 days remaining in 2019.
President Donald Trump gives his State of the Union address tomorrow (2/5/2019)
38 days until the final day of the 2019 Utah Legislature (3/14/2019)
89 days to the Utah State Republican Party Organizing Convention (5/4/2019)
119 days until the municipal election filing period opens (6/3/2019)
123 days until the municipal election filing period ends (6/7/2019)
190 days to the 2019 Utah primary elections (8/13/2019)
274 days to the 2019 municipal elections (11/5/2019)
357 days to the first day of the 2020 Utah Legislature (1/27/2020)
365 days to the 2020 Iowa Caucuses (2/3/2020)
633 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)
Utahns overwhelmingly oppose reinstating the sales tax on food
By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor
Utahns really oppose putting the state sales tax back on unprepared food, a new UtahPolicy.com poll shows....
Bill aims to reform grand juries in Utah, making them a more useful part of the judiciary
By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor
Utah police officers shot and killed a record number of people last year, yet in the Beehive State, like the rest of the nation, only a small percent of officers are ever charged in such deaths, ever convicted....
Chaffetz says outrage surrounding Northam blackface photo would be 'exponentially worse' if he were a Trump supporter
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Former Utah Rep., and possible 2020 gubernatorial candidate said the furor surrounding a Democrat in Virginia would be "exponentially worse" if he were a supporter of President Donald Trump....
Newest proposal to replace Medicaid expansion will cost estimated $72 million over two years, but may save millions if Utah is given a waiver by the Trump administration
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
A newly-introduced version of the bill to supplant Prop. 3 with a scaled-back version of Medicaid expansion will cost Utah taxpayers about $72 million over the next two years, but could result in hundreds of millions of dollars in savings within 3 years. However, that'...
McAdams: Both parties are caught up in symbolism of a border wall
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Freshman Rep. Ben McAdams said Friday on Fox News that Congress should shift the immigration conversation away from President Donald Trump's border wall, and instead focus on border security....
Romero introduces bill to end underage marriages in Utah
By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor
Two Democratic-sponsored bills relating to Utah marriage provisions were introduced Friday, one outlawing any marriages for minors under 18 years old....
Legislature's Medicaid bill replacing Prop. 3 will cost $30-40 million extra to implement (UPDATED)
By Bryan Schott and Bob Bernick
Lawmakers are scrambling to find between $30 and $40 million extra to pay for the first year of the Medicaid expansion proposal that will supplant the voter-approved Prop. 3....
Sponsored article: Utah decided - now is time to expand Medicaid
By Matt Slonaker, Executive Director, Utah Health Policy Project
On Nov. 6, Utah voters passed Proposition 3 and finally put to rest a years-long debate. ...
Deseret News
Salt Lake Tribune
Other
Leaked schedules show Trump does mostly nothing. Axios got their hands on President Donald Trump's schedule for the past three months. The president spent most of his time in unstructured "executive time" during which he watches TV, reads papers and phones friends and informal advisers - http://bit.ly/2GmAdyX
Trump will call for an end to the HIV epidemic during Tuesday's State of the Union address. The 10-year strategy will target communities with the most HIV infections to reduce transmissions by 2030 - https://politi.co/2GkVwRr
SOTU to focus on infrastructure spending. President Trump also plans to renew his call for major infrastructure legislation during the address on Tuesday night - http://bit.ly/2SozovU
Virginia governor Ralph Northam facing growing calls to resign. A photo of a man in blackface next to another dressed as a Klan member from Northam's medical school yearbook surfaced last week. Northam held an emergency meeting on Sunday night with top staffers and reportedly is considering stepping down - https://wapo.st/2GoKWZB
President Trump plans to keep U.S. troops in Iraq to monitor Iran. Trump said Sunday he wants a military presence to monitor Iran and strike against ISIS - https://nyti.ms/2GmWmx9
Trump calls U.S. military intervention in Venezuela "an option." The president says he turned down a requested meeting with socialist leader Nicolas Maduro because "we're very far along in the process" - https://reut.rs/2GlC6vD
Trump won't commit to making Mueller report public. The president would not promise to make the results of special counsel Robert Mueller's inquiry into Russia's ties to his campaign public, instead saying it was time to "get rid" of the probe - https://nyti.ms/2GmELW4
Trump "would have a hard time" letting his son play football. President Trump said he would let his son, Barron, play football if he wanted to, but he wouldn't "steer him that way" - https://wapo.st/2GmFeaM
Anti-shutdown legislation is unlikely to pass. Members of Congress have introduced at least 30 bills to block another government shutdown, but most of those won't go anywhere - http://bit.ly/2GjLS1s
Trump sought a loan from Deutsche Bank during the 2016 campaign but was turned down. The bank rejected him because they were worried he might win the presidency then default on the loan - https://nyti.ms/2SojkdI
Polls! Polls! Polls!
The Defense Department announced plans to send nearly 4,000 additional troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. The troops will be deployed for three months to provide support for border agents - http://bit.ly/2SuJFGM
Backlash from an FDA crackdown on e-cigarettes. Conservatives and libertarians say the government agency may be going too far - https://wapo.st/2Gn7pX0
Trump moves to stop a 2020 primary challenge. President Trump's re-election campaign is mobilizing to elevate pro-Trump supporters at the state level to keep any potential 2020 primary challenger out of the race - http://bit.ly/2SlYqMc
Wait..what? A White House staffer maintains President Trump's skin color is the result of "good genes" and not a tanning bed or bronzer - https://nyti.ms/2SsA03B
Facebook turns 15 today. The social network has achieved an unprecedented global reach since its birth on January 4, 2005 - https://econ.st/2GkVMjn
1789 - George Washington is unanimously elected as the first President of the United States by the Electoral College.
1792 - George Washington was unanimously elected to a second term as president in a vote by the Electoral College.
1801 - John Marshall is sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States.
1846 - The first Mormon pioneers make their exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois, westward towards Utah.
1938 - Adolf Hitler seized control of the German army.
1974 - A group calling themselves the Symbionese Liberation Army abducted Patricia Hearst, the 19-year-old daughter of publisher Randolph Hearst. Hearst was arrested as a fugitive in September of 1975.
Curtis protects Utah priorities with new tariff safeguard legislation
Congressman John Curtis (R-UT), member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released the following statement after introducing the Bicameral Congressional Trade Authority Act of 2019 with a group of bipartisan legislators....
Salt Lake Chamber announces Fred Lampropoulos as the Chamber's 40th Giant in our City
The Salt Lake Chamber, Utah's largest and longest-standing statewide business association, announced Fred Lampropoulos as the 40th Giant in our City....
Freedoms
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Abraham Lincoln
National Emergency
"He's making plans now to declare a national emergency on the border. The idea, I guess, is to declare an emergency and then take money that has been earmarked for real emergencies, like floods and hurricanes, and use it for a wall that won't do anything instead. Sometimes I'm kind of amazed he only bankrupted three casinos."- JIMMY KIMMEL
