Situational awareness - February 21, 2018

Poll gives Republican Mitt Romney a big lead in Utah's U.S. Senate race

By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor

No surprise! A new survey shows Mitt Romney is a heavy favorite to replace Sen. Orrin Hatch in Washington. 

A new UtahPolicy.com survey finds when Utahns are asked to choose which of the declared and possible U.S. Senate candidates they would vote for, Romney pulls in 60% support. His closest rival, Democrat Jenny Wilson, is way behind at just 14%. That's more than a 4-1 advantage.

Read more...

Situational awareness - February 21, 2018

Good Wednesday morning from Salt Lake City. There are just 12 working days until the end of the 2018 Utah Legislature.

Utahns don't support an abortion bill on Utah's Capitol Hill. Dabakis won't run again. President Trump orders a ban on "bump stocks."

Tick Tock:

• 15 days until the final day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (3/8/2018)
• 16 days until the filing period for candidates in the 2018 election opens (3/9/2018)
• 22 days until the filing deadline for the 2018 elections (3/15/2018)
• 27 days until the statewide caucus meetings for Utah Republicans and Democrats (3/20/2018)
• 59 days until the Utah GOP State Convention (4/21/2018)
• 66 days until the Utah Democratic State Convention (4/28/2018)
• 125 days until the 2018 Primary Election (6/26/2018)
• 257 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
• 341 days until the first day of the 2019 Utah Legislature (1/28/2019)
• 987 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

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Here's what's driving the day:

Utahns are not behind a controversial abortion bill

Nearly 6 in 10 Utahns say lawmakers should not move forward with a bill to ban abortions if the sole reason is the child has Down syndrome. Legislative lawyers have said the bill would likely be found unconstitutional [Utah Policy].

Romney sprints to a massive lead

We polled Utahns to see which of the declared or rumored U.S. Senate candidates they would support in November. Not surprisingly, Mitt Romney has a 46-point lead over his closest competitor, Democrat Jenny Wilson. No other candidate got more than 3-percent against Romney [Utah Policy].

Bill to ban media non-compete contracts stoking tensions

House Speaker Greg Hughes is battling with big media companies over a bill that would ban non-compete contracts for professionals in the news media [Utah Policy].

Dabakis retiring

Democratic firebrand Sen. Jim Dabakis announced suddenly on Tuesday that he would not run for re-election in 2018. Dabakis said it was time to "get the hell out of the way" and let others serve [Utah Policy].

Other Utah headlines: 

• The Utah House approved a measure to remove the state portion of the sales tax on food, while slightly raising other taxes [Deseret News, Tribune].
   
• Rep. John Curtis says Congress needs to take steps to avoid mass shootings in the wake of last week's massacre at a Florida high school [Tribune].
   
• Special interest groups are feeding lawmakers at the same time they're asking them for funding [Tribune].
   
• Legislative Republicans are pushing a measure to abolish Utah's death penalty [Deseret News, Tribune].
   
• A House committee approved a bill requiring lobbyists to take an annual course on how to avoid sexual harassment [Deseret News, Tribune].
   
• Rep. Justin Fawson has altered his online sex education bill to focus more on helping kids avoid pornography [Tribune].
   
• A state task force aiming to reduce teen suicide unveiled their first set of recommendations which focus on prevention and crisis response [Deseret News, Tribune].
   
• The Utah Senate advanced a bill to require suicide hotlines to be staffed round-the-clock, or roll over to another line where a live human would answer [Deseret News].
   
• A House panel approved a bill to require more polling places on election day. The bill also expands same-day voter registration to the whole state [Deseret News].
   
• High schools in Utah could reject students who don't live within the school's boundaries under a bill that won preliminary Senate approval on Tuesday [Tribune].
   
• Salt Lake City leaders will gather public input about a possible half-cent sales tax increase to pay for a backlog of maintenance projects. They also want to explore possibly putting an $87 million bond on the ballot [Deseret News, Tribune].
   
• Salt Lake City officials are optimistic they'll come up with a plan that's acceptable to both sides in their ongoing negotiations with legislative leaders about a proposed inland port in the city's northwest quadrant [Deseret News].

National headlines:

• White House advisor Jared Kushner and chief of staff John Kelly are locking horns over Kushner's access to classified material. Kushner has been unable to get a security clearance from the FBI. Kushner reportedly has a voracious appetite for classified information, requesting more than anyone else in the White House [New York Times].
   
• Vice President Mike Pence was scheduled to have a secret meeting with the North Koreans during the Olympics, but the meeting was scuttled less than two hours before it was set to take place [Washington Post].
   
• President Donald Trump ordered the Justice Department to come up with rules to prohibit so-called "bump stocks" that allow semiautomatic guns to be fired at a more rapid rate [Bloomberg].
   
• President Trump is also reportedly "open" to the idea of raising the minimum age to buy a gun to 21-years-old, saying high school kids should not be able to purchase firearms [Axios].
   
• Far-right media sites are pushing conspiracy theories following the massacre of 17 people at a Florida high school last week [New York Times]. 
   
• A new nationwide poll finds only 25% of American workers have noticed a bigger paycheck after the GOP tax plan was passed last year [Politico].
   
• Donald Trump Jr. says it's "nonsense" that some are accusing the Trump family from profiting from the presidency [Associated Press].
   
• Democrats flipped a GOP-controlled Kentucky legislative seat by 38 points on Tuesday. President Trump won the district by 49 points in 2016. That's an incredible 85 point swing [The Hill].
   
• Yikes! A survey of 843 women in the entertainment industry finds 94% of them say they've been sexually harassed or assaulted [USA Today].

On this day in history:

• 1848 - Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto.
   
• 1878 - The first telephone directory is issued in New Haven, Connecticut. It listed 50 subscribers.
   
• 1885 - The Washington Monument is dedicated.
   
• 1916 - Germans launched the Battle of Verdun. More than 1 million soldiers in the German and French armies were killed in nearly 10 months of fighting. It was the longest battle of World War I.
   
• 1953 - Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the double helix structure of the DNA molecule.
   
• 1965 - Malcolm X is assassinated at the Audobon Ballroom in New York City.
   
• 1972 - President Richard Nixon becomes the first president to visit the People's Republic of China.
   
• 1975 - Former U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are sentenced to prison for their roles in the Watergate scandal.

Today At Utah Policy

Most Utahns oppose a controversial abortion bill under consideration by lawmakers
By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor
Most Utahns oppose a bill now before the Legislature that would outlaw abortions if the only reason the woman seeks the procedure is that the fetus has Down syndrome, a new UtahPolicy.com poll shows....

Tensions rising between lawmakers and media companies over bill to ban non-compete contracts
By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor
It can be a bit fun to watch a few of the big and powerful Utah institutions get their comeuppance....

Poll gives Republican Mitt Romney a big lead in Utah's U.S. Senate race
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
No surprise! A new survey shows Mitt Romney is a heavy favorite to replace Sen. Orrin Hatch in Washington. ...

Dabakis not running for re-election
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City, announced on Tuesday he would not be running for re-election in 2018....

Policy News

Governor appoints Troy Little to the Fifth District Juvenile Court
Gov. Gary R. Herbert has appointed Troy Little as a judge for the Fifth District Juvenile Court....

Fox files: 'Section 201 Pt. 2'
I wrote a Fox File back in November on a trend we noticed in our pipeline related to solar PV manufacturing....

Unearthing talent - How Utah found labor research gold
At the end of each evening in early fall 2017, Michael Flynn walked over to the whiteboard in the research and marketing department to tick one of the 40 boxes he'd drawn as a deadline-countdown....

Local Headlines

Salt Lake Tribune

Op-ed: The proposed 'Utah Yield' bicycle law is all about safety

Op-ed: Utah's HB241 would undermine the role of news in society

Editorial: Utah legislators love their guns and their religion

High schools could reject open-enrollment students under a bill drawing little opposition so far at the Utah Legislature

Utah lawmaker abandons online sex ed effort to instead urge lessons on consent and the dangers of pornography

With youth suicides at 'epidemic proportions,' Utah panel calls for expanding mental-health support, outreach and encouraging more gun locks

'Too drunk to drive, but sober enough to carry a .45?' Alcohol lobby says gun-related tweak is hypocritical

Special interests find that the best way to Utah lawmakers' hearts - or at least their calendars - is through their stomachs

Salt Lake City Sen. Jim Dabakis to retire from Legislature at end of term

Will Utah legislators abolish the death penalty in 2018? These conservative lawmakers think so.

After Florida shooting, Utah congressman says, 'We can and must provide solutions'

Bill advances to help prevent sexual harassment of legislative interns

Utah House votes to eliminate state sales tax on food - bill now goes to the Senate

House Speaker Hughes says Utah TV stations silence news employees on controversial 'noncompete' bill

As Salt Lake City weighs a sales tax hike or bonds for its big capital plan, 'The public process begins'

Deseret News

Op-ed: 'Truth Decay': How to know when facts have exited

Op-ed: Strengthening the relationship between teachers and parents in Utah

Editorial: Hasn't the country learned that free trade is good economics?

Bill requiring harassment training for lobbyists passes committee

Mitt Romney jumps out to big lead in U.S. Senate race, poll shows

State Sen. Jim Dabakis announces he won't seek re-election

Bill requiring greater crisis line accessibility in Utah moves forward

House committee advances bill requiring more polling places, other changes for voters

Utah House votes to remove sales tax on food

House committee advances long-shot effort to create one Utah uber-metro

Bill would ensure state oversight of oil and gas production in Utah

Senate OKs bill punishing abortion providers for not giving required info

Committee OKs resolution allowing sale of property for Utah County connector

Committee OKs measure recognizing postpartum depression as 'public health issue'

What's the public appetite for 2 tax increases? Salt Lake leaders want to find out

Utah GOP lawmakers pushing to end death penalty

Salt Lake City leaders 'optimistic' in negotiations over inland port authority

Other

Utah County Attorney speaks against proposed prosecutorial review board (Daily Herald)

National Headlines

Poll: Most Americans now support GOP tax law (Axios)

Small-business confidence hits record high in 2018 after Trump tax-reform win (CNBC)

Germany set out to delete hate speech online. Instead, it made things worse. (Washington Post)

Judicial order in Flynn case prompts new round of scrutiny (The Hill)

The Case Against Google (New York Times)

California Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia denies groping accusations (CBS News)

Michael Moore Participated In Russia-Sponsored Anti-Trump Rally (Daily Caller)

Trump Moves to Regulate 'Bump Stock' Devices (New York Times)

Republicans to use Pelosi against vulnerable Dems in midterm elections (FOX News)

Dems fume as Trump pushes low-cost, ObamaCare alternative health plans (FOX News)

Disturbing survey finds trash, needles, feces littering streets of San Francisco (FOX News)

Wise Words

Success

"To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions." Benjamin Franklin
 

Lighter Side

Doritos

"Over the weekend "Lady Doritos" was trending. There were reports that Doritos was launching a "lady-friendly" chip that is quieter and not as orange. And if that goes well, they're gonna try to do the same thing with the president." Jimmy Fallon