Happy Friday! Sen. Mike Lee of Utah worked feverishly to convince the White House that an emergency declaration about the U.S.-Mexico border was foolish and wouldn’t end well. He drew up documents, met with White House lawyers and offered up legislation to try to curtail an executive overreach. In the end, President Donald Trump told Lee he wasn’t for his legislation and Congress moved to override the president’s action -- a loss that Lee had tried to avoid. Inside Lee’s effort to smooth over the situation. [Time]
Topping the news: The Utah Legislature has gone sine die. The session is over. Tribune reporters and editors compiled a series of updates throughout the final day of the 2019 Utah Legislature Session. [Trib]
-> The session ended without accomplishing the original goal of overhauling the state tax code. [Trib]
-> The winners and the losers of the 2019 legislative session. [Trib]
-> Utah lawmakers officially voted to boost alcohol allowance in beers from 3.2 percent to 4 percent Thursday evening. The final vote in the Senate was 27-1 and the legislation now goes to Gov. Gary Herbert, who has already indicated his support. [Trib] [DNews] [Fox13] [KSL]
-> Although not quite reaching the $100 million sum suggested by Gov. Gary Herbert, the Utah Legislature voted to divert at least $28 million towards projects to help with state air-quality. Some projects the funding will go towards include an additional seven free fare public transportation days and the construction of more vehicle charging stations. [Trib] [ABC4]
-> Utah Sens. Mike Lee and Mitt Romney were part of a dozen Republican senators to vote with Democrats to override the president’s emergency declaration on the U.S.-Mexico border. Lee said his vote was not about border security, which he wants, but because of concerns about executive overreach. [Trib] [DNews] [Fox13] [KSL] [NYTimes] [Politico] [WaPost]
Tweets of the day: From @SpencerJCox: “Well friends...we made it TO THE LAST DAY OF THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION! Sorry if I’m a little punchy this morning. Day 45 is always strange. It can be absolutely insane or oddly quiet. If the latter happens I might do a little twitter AMA this afternoon. So get your Q?’s Ready.”
-> @thomcarter: “Many stakeholders went to work and tonight the state legislature put more than $28M towards real air quality solutions. This is history. We are very grateful.”
-> @StephenAtHome: “A new book saying that Trump wanted to fire Ivanka from her White House job leaves out some important details. Like: what is Ivanka’s White House job?”
Behind the Headlines: Tribune editor Jennifer Napier-Pearce and reporters Taylor Stevens and Benjamin Wood join KCPW’s Roger McDonough offer a quick-and-dirty recap of the 2019 Utah legislative session, which came to a close Thursday night.
Every Friday at 9 a.m., stream "Behind the Headlines" at kcpw.org, or tune in to KCPW 88.3 FM or Utah Public Radio for the broadcast. Join the live conversation by calling (801) 355-TALK.
Friday quiz: Last week, 95 percent of you knew an LGBTQ advocate resigned from a youth suicide task force over changes to a bill banning conversion therapy, but only 46 percent knew a reservation system at Arches National Park could cost Moab $22 million. Think you kept up with the news this week? Take our quiz to find out. A new one will post every Friday morning. You can find previous quizzes here. If you’re using The Salt Lake Tribune mobile app, click here. [Trib]
In the news: A group, about 200 strong, gathered at Herriman’s Bastian Elementary School on Wednesday to question developers about a planned community development project. Many residents were concerned about the project, a rebooted version of Olympia Hills, and how adding so many more residents and amenities would affect the rural area. [Trib] [KSL]
-> A group of high schoolers plan to walk out of school on Friday and march on the Utah Capitol to call for increased action on climate change. The event is planned for 10 a.m and is part of an international walkout called School Strike 4 Climate. [Trib]
-> Sen. Daniel Thatcher presented a bill as “one of the most important bills that no one is talking about” on Wednesday. The legislation would create a system that wipes out a person’s criminal records convicted of certain designated low-level crimes and stays out of trouble afterwords. If Gov. Gary Herbert signs the bill, Utah would become the second state in the nation to pass such a law. [Trib]
-> Rep. Rob Bishop compared the Democrats’ Green New Deal to genocide, at least for rural and Western communities. He made the statement during a news conference and declaring that the idea package is too extreme and could destroy rural areas. [Trib]
-> Although this year’s legislative session included fewer education bills than previous sessions, more school safety bills were debated than other years perhaps in part because of an increase of school shootings and University of Utah student Lauren McClusky’s murder. [Trib]
Nationally: In an unanimous vote, the House approved a resolution calling on the Justice Depart to ensure special counsel Robert Mueller’s full report is made public upon its completion. The vote was 420-0. Despite the sweeping results, the debate was intense. Several Republican leaders called the measure a waste of time and unnecessary, but in the end voted with the rest of the House. [NYTimes] [Politico] [WaPost]
-> Cho Son-hui, North Korea vice foreign minister, said that Kim Jong-un may decide to resume nuclear and missile tests no that talks with President Donald Trump has stalled. She said that Jong-un has no issues with the president, but that he doesn’t trust several in his circle like Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. [NYTimes] [Politico] [WaPost]
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-- Thomas Burr and Sahalie Donaldson