This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Jindal cost taxpayers to help Romney. Free lunches at the Capitol, for some. GOP declines Swallow convo.
Happy Tuesday. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is an up-and-coming star of the GOP, but his travel out of state is costing taxpayers at home. State police have spent $226,500 to provide security when the governor has headed out-of-state, The Associated Press reports. A lot of the travel was to help Mitt Romney's unsuccessful bid. [AP]
Topping the news: The AP takes a look at Rep. Jason Chaffetz, one of many GOP lawmakers who heads home from Washington to find a happy audience of supporters, despite a gridlocked system in Congress. [AP]
-> Special-interest lunches and other freebies are taking up a chunk of lawmakers time — 32 out of 33 working days for state senators, in fact. [Trib]
-> A new bill would allow for sanctions on adoption agencies that engage in fraud. [Trib]
Tweets of the day: From @th_wright: "The Chairman of any political party should be provided with a lifetime supply of therapy. I think I've seen it all."
Happy birthday: To former state Rep. Brent Wallis.
From the Hill: Here's your daily legislative schedule. [Trib]
-> Sen. Daniel Thatcher, a Republican from West Valley City, shot down attempts to question Attorney General John Swallow about the scandal currently surrounding him during an appropriations committee hearing. [Trib]
-> A bill endorsing "In God We Trust" license plates is headed for Gov. Gary Herbert's desk after passing through the Senate 27-0. [Trib]
-> Lawmakers are considering upping annual road funding by $4.56 million to help with expanding the Mountain View Corridor in Salt Lake County and 1-15 in Utah County.[Trib]
-> Sen. Curt Bramble received unanimous support from the Senate to start a bill that would delay the implementation of Utah's guest worker program. [Trib]
-> Senate President Wayne Niederhauser says that hiking a food tax isn't going to happen this session. [Trib]
-> A bill that would target a dirty campaign trick called push polling advanced out of a committee. [Trib] [Herald]
-> The House passed a bill that protects victims of dating violence, while rejecting an amendment that some Democratic lawmakers said had an anti-gay bias. [Trib]
-> Cancer patients using pills for chemotherapy would have better access to their medication, and for a lower cost, thanks to a new bill. [Trib] [Herald]
Opinion section: George Pyle blasts the way that money influences politics. [Trib]
-> Proponents of the United Way's 2-1-1 help line are encouraging a public-private partnership for the program. [Trib]
-> A U. law professor says that the recently-released Department of Justice memo that gives a legal basis for killing U.S. citizens with drones can serve as a "recruiting tool" for terrorist organizations. [Trib]
-> Former Sen. Jake Garn and a nuclear adviser call for the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, aimed at stalling nuclear proliferation. [Trib]
-> West Jordan's city manager says it's time for the federal government to hand over control of public land in Utah. [Trib]
-> A physician says that the responsibility in fixing the inversion falls not only on citizens, but also on government. [Trib]
-> Former Sen. Bob Bennett says we shouldn't be so quick to analyze future economic projections without looking at new data. [DNews]
-> LaVarr Webb and Frank Pignanelli call the Utah Legislature a "boiling cauldron of rumor and conjecture." [DNews]
Weekend in review: GOP State Central Committee members are declining to "formally address" the allegations against embattled Attorney General John Swallow — at least for the time being. [Trib]
-> A federal judge gave an assistant attorney general the third degree over Utah's enforcement-only immigration law. [Trib] [DNews]
-> Sen. Orrin Hatch criticized Treasury Secretary nominee Jacob Lew for having a bank account in the Cayman Islands, just as Democrats hit Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney for. [Trib]
-> Peg McEntee lauds the International Baccalaureate program, and blasts a lawmaker's legislative attack on it. [Trib]
-> Paul Rolly analyzes the roots of Presidents Day, and how some Utah liquor stores chose to not-celebrate. [Trib]
-> A Utah family is pleading with President Barack Obama and immigration authorities to avoid deportation to El Salvador. [Trib] [DNews]
Nationally: More lawmakers, including some that usually swing pro-gun, say that they would support limits on the size of magazines — but not an overall assault weapons ban. [NYTimes]
-> Both academia and the business community are pleading with the government to hand out more green cards to highly-skilled graduate students, who face uncertain futures in the United States after their student visas expire. [WaPost]
Where are they?
Rep. Chris Stewart meets with officials and tours Hill Air Force Base.
Gov. Gary Herbert meets all-state high school art competition winners, meets with Sen. Mike Lee, sits down with Dr. Greg Prince and chats with House Speaker Becky Lockhart and Senate President Wayne Niederhauser.
SLC Mayor Ralph Becker has a Sugar House streetcar meeting and a City Council meeting.
WVC Mayor Mike Winder hits an open house for Rep. Jason Chaffetz's new office and has a City Council meeting.
President Barack Obama has no public events.
Got a tip? A birthday, wedding or anniversary to announce? Email us at cornflakes@sltrib.com. If you haven't already, sign up for our weekday email and get this sent directly to your inbox. [Trib]
— Thomas Burr and Emily AndrewsTwitter.com/thomaswburr and Twitter.com/emilytandrews