This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Colorado guv: Go slow on legalizing weed. Romney backs Count My Vote. Utah lawmakers must vote, conflict or not.
Happy Monday. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper may be leading the state that legalized recreational marijuana use but he's advising his fellow governors to take it slow in any effort to do the same. While his state is raking in the tax dollars from legalizing weed, he says the jury is still out on the "social experiment." [Politico]
Topping the news: The Count My Vote initiative was attacked by the Legislature and the Protect Our Neighborhood Elections group over the weekend. [Trib] [DNews] [Herald] [Fox13] [KUTV] Meanwhile, Mitt Romney added his support to the Count My Vote. [Trib] [KSL]
-> Have a conflict? Well, you still have to vote. Utah is one of two states where lawmakers cannot abstain even if they have some personal interest in legislation before them. [Trib]
-> House investigators shared around 1,300 emails recovered from the crashed home computer of former AG John Swallow with county attorneys conducting a criminal investigation of Swallow and former AG Mark Shurtleff. Committee members also discussed election reform bills. [Trib] [DNews] [APviaHerald]
-> Gov. Gary Herbert is the most popular governor in the country. [WaPost]
Tweets of the day: From @RobertGehrke: "Thank you, McDonalds, for showing me during this Olympics that winning a gold medal and eating a McNugget are pretty much the same thing."
From @KJinSLC: "On a side note, Romney should turn off the 'sent from my iPad' function. Nobody cares."
Opinion section: Attorneys Russell Fericks and David Irvine argue that the State Bar did not do enough to address the behavior of former AG John Swallow. [Trib]
-> H. David Burton, co-chair of the Salt Lake Chamber's Utah Transportation Coalition, and David R. Golden, former chair of the Salt Lake Chamber's Executive Board, say lawmakers need to restructure the gas tax in order to meet growing transportation needs. [Trib]
-> Former congressman and chairman of chairman of Tell Utilities Solar won't be Killed Barry Goldwater Jr. argues that Rocky Mountain Power should not impose a monthly tax on solar power users. [Trib]
-> Allison Jones, executive director of the Wild Utah Project, and Kirk Robinson, executive director of Western Wildlife Conservancy, argue that sage grouse conservation, ranchers and oil drilling can coexist. [Trib]
-> The plaintiffs in the case of Kitchen v. Herbert challenging Utah's Amendment 3 Laurie, Wood and Kody Partridge, say they now better understand what it means to be married. [Trib]
-> Pat Bagley gives his take on Arizona's discrimination move. [Trib]
-> Peter Hayes, a former teacher, says he could tell which students had a good home life and which didn't, but he could never tell who had heterosexual or same-sex parents. [Trib]
-> Federal judge and former Utah Senate president Bruce Jenkins argues that lawmakers need to remember what their purpose is. [Trib]
-> Paul Rolly discusses how Sen. Mike Lee is trying to change his negative public image. [Trib]
-> Rolly also notes how the late Gov. Scott Matheson handled a weather crisis as compared to NJ Gov. Chris Christie. [Trib]
-> George Pyle gives his take on the Orem woman who bought nearly $600 worth of T-shirts she found offensive in order to keep them out of the store window. [Trib]
-> A sampling of some of the best reader comments from sltrib.com [Trib]
-> Frank Pignanelli and LaVarr Webb review some of the hot issues on Capitol Hill as the Legislature starts the second half of the session. [DNews]
-> Former Sen. Bob Bennett says lawmakers should let the Count My Vote effort play out as voters want and not what officials would rather have. [DNews]
Weekend in review: Here's today's schedule for the Legislature. [Trib]
-> A bill allowing Utah to enact stricter air quality standards than those set by the federal government passed a House committee. [Trib] [DNews]
-> Thomas Burr's D.C. Notebook explores some reasons why Mitt Romney isn't running for president for a third time. [Trib]
-> At the half way point of the session, lawmakers have not yet passed any substantial air quality legislation. [DNews]
-> Revenue from Salt Lake City's parking fees is off by $1.5 million and the City Council wants to know why. [Trib]
-> A Senate panel passed legislation to ban building waste incinerators near houses. [Trib] [DNews] [KUER]
-> The Alliance for a Better Utah is concerned some lawmakers could financially benefit by the relocation of the state prison in Draper and is calling for more them to more fully declare conflicts of interest. [Trib]
-> Lobbyists for Draper are spreading around renderings of what development of the area where the prison currently stands could look like. [DNews]
-> A House committee rejected a bill to lower the gas tax and raise sales tax in order to raise transportation funds. [Trib]
-> A House panel passed a proposal to legalize non-intoxicating cannabis oil for seizure treatment. [DNews] [Fox13]
-> Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, D-Holladay, discusses her Good Samaritan bill giving limited immunity to those who report drug overdoses to authorities. [Fox13]
-> Fear over potential new federal gun control laws and new interest in shooting sports, such as archery, has brought millions in revenue to the state. [DNews]
-> Legislation allowing school districts and charter schools to replace four school days each year with teacher training days passed a House panel. [Trib] [DNews]
-> The House passed a bill to provide grants for schools transitioning to digital text books. [DNews]
-> A House committee passed a proposal that would make it a crime for any school employee or volunteer to engage in sexual behavior with a student. [DNews]
-> The House advanced a bill allowing parents to request a jury trial to decide whether parental rights could be taken away. [DNews]
-> Rep. Rob Bishop praised Utah lawmakers for their stance on public lands. [Trib] [DNews] [KUER]
-> A Murray legislator wants to form a task force to look at the pros and cons of mobile home parks and the challenges park owners face. [Trib]
-> A House committee advanced a proposal requiring law enforcement to get a warrant before accessing the location data from a cell phone. [Trib] [Fox13] [ABC4]
-> A bill allowing Utah insurance companies to cover infertility treatments for married couples passed a House panel. [Trib]
-> Gov. Gary Herbert discusses Medicaid expansion on ABC4. [ABC4]
-> A House committee moved legislation to make it easier for foster children to get approval to participate in activities. [DNews]
-> The Senate passed legislation to toughen penalties for cockfighting. [Trib]
-> The Senate also passed a bill allowing UDOT to increase the speed limit to 80 mph in areas it feels are appropriate. [DNews] [KUER]
-> A House panel sent a bill allowing licensed professionals to request that some disciplinary records be expunged after a period of years back to the Rules Committee. [KUTV]
-> A Senate committee passes a resolution reaffirming to the feds that Utah livestock producers have a right to use their water for their animals. [DNews]
-> Jamie Usry of the Humane Society of Utah discusses a bill banning local governments from restricting specific dog breeds. [Fox13]
-> A group filed paperwork to get the incorporation on the Millcreek area into a city on the November ballot. [Fox13] [ABC4] [KUTV]
-> The AP lays out five things to look for on The Hill this week. [APviaHerald]
-> The BLM's wild-horse management program may be on the way financial disaster unless changes are made to the agency's roundup policy. [APviaTrib]
-> The Sandy Planning Commision gave a conditional use permit for a boys and girls club to build a building in a historic district despite concerns from some residents. [Trib]
Nationally: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will announce plans to reduce the U.S. Army to smallest it's been since before World War II. [NYTimes]
-> An evangelical medical marijuana provider in California is taking on the IRS over what it calls punitive taxes only cannabis outlets have to pay. [WaPost]
-> President Barack Obama will propose changes to how the feds pay for fighting wildfires. [APviaTrib]
Where are they?
Rep. Jason Chaffetz speaks to the Legislature and to the League of Cities and Towns. He then flies back to Washington in the evening.
Gov. Gary Herbert hits the National Governors Association Business Session and heads to the White House to meet President Barack Obama.
Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox speaks to the Utah Manufactures' Association, and attends a Shelter the Homeless Committee meeting.
SL Co. Mayor Ben McAdams meets with senior staff, goes to a county Library Board meeting and later meets with state Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross.
SLC Mayor Ralph Becker hits legislative and Mountain Accord meetings.
President Barack Obama speaks to the National Governor's Association and meets with governors of Western states.
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 Topher Webb Twitter.com/thomaswburr and Twitter.com/topherjwebb