News Highlights

Lower state revenues may mean teachers don’t receive full $2,500 pay boost this year (Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret Morning News).

Three in four Utahns favor ethics-laws reforms, according to a new poll, "[b]ut lawmakers say such reforms are unlikely to pass anytime soon" (Morning News).

Quote of the Day

"I'm not sure that the state has a place overreaching or micromanaging what is done at the local government level."

-- Gov. Jon Huntsman, suggesting that the Legislature ought not to overturn Salt Lake City’s domestic-partnership ordinance (Tribune).

What’s With Utah County Dems?

Utah County Democrats are offering the strongest field of legislative candidates that I’ve seen in many years of observing Utah politics. The remarkable class of candidates reflects the strong leadership county Democratic Chair Richard Davis and Vice-Chair Larry Brown. Davis, a BYU political science professor, is showing that someone who hangs out in the ivory tower can also fight and scrap and do the nuts and bolts grassroots work so important in building a county party. 

Many of the candidate recruits are prominent in their communities and have strong ties to BYU and the LDS Church. Most of them will run smart, well-organized campaigns.  While winning in overwhelmingly Republican Utah County will always be difficult for Democrats, it’s clear that GOP candidates are going to have to get out and work, for a change. Here’s a list of the current Democratic candidates, with more expected to announce over the next few weeks. The Republican incumbent in each district is also noted.

Senate 13: Ken Peay is a retired commander of the Utah Highway Patrol in Utah County and worked in law enforcement for 31 years.  He heads the criminal justice program at Provo College.  In 2006, he ran against Becky Lockhart in House District 64. (Sen. Mark Madsen)

House 27: Gwyn Franson is a former member of the Highland City Council.  She was the only person to be elected to two terms on the council.  She is currently an elementary school teacher at Highland Elementary School.  Her husband, Jay, is currently the mayor of Highland. (Rep. John Dougall)

House 58: Steven Baugh is a former superintendent of the Alpine School District.  A native of Orem, he is currently on the faculty of the College of Education at BYU.  (Rep. Stephen Sandstrom)

House 59: Paul Thompson is a former president of Weber State University and former dean of the Marriott School of Management at BYU.  He recently returned as president of the Massachusetts Boston LDS Mission. (Rep. Lorie Fowlke)

House 60: Boyd McAffee is a retired educator in the Alpine School District and currently director of the Clear Creek Camp in Scofield, Utah.  He is a long time Boy Scouter.  His father served as a Democrat in the state legislature representing Provo. (Rep. Brad Daw)

House 61: Deon Turley is the president of the Provo Council PTA. She previously served as secretary of the Provo council PTA; secretary to the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters; and Deputy County Clerk in Weber County. (Rep. Keith Grover)

House 62: Claralyn Hill is a local estate planning attorney in Provo.  She is a co-author (along with Dallin H. Oaks and Reese Hansen) of a well-known textbook on trusts.  She has served on the boards of several community organizations and is a popular lecturer with her husband, Ned, on budgeting and estate planning.  Her husband is dean of the Marriott School of Management at BYU. (Rep. Chris Herrod)

House 63: Don Jarvis is a retired professor of Russian at BYU.  He was director of the faculty center at BYU and is currently a consultant on faculty development at UVSC.  He also served as president of the Russia Moscow LDS Mission. (Rep. Stephen Clark)

Washington Watch

Little Financial Support for Cannon
Rep. Chris Cannon is one of "a number of incumbent members of Congress facing their own primaries [who] have received little support from leadership and colleagues when they might be more vulnerable than ever. Reps. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), Don Young (R-Alaska), Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and [Cannon] have all received $5,000 or less from their leadership and negligible support from fellow members. ... Some of those with the least help, like Cannon, Jones and Kucinich, have had strained relations with their leadership and colleagues over the years. Cannon's position on immigration reform has attracted criticism from conservatives, and Jones has bucked his party on several major issues including the Iraq war, while Kucinich has repeatedly criticized Democratic leaders in Congress" (The Hill).

Matheson: Fight 'Superbugs'
Rep. Jim Matheson introduces legislation "urging a stepped-up effort against the so-called 'superbugs' that are infecting -- sometimes with fatal results -- hospital patients and even healthy individuals in schools, the military and the workplace. Matheson's bill -- H Res 988 -- seeks to raise awareness of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA" (see press release)

Property Tax Trends
The Utah Foundation has posted a new research brief that "charts long-term and recent trends in property tax burdens, showing how Utah's property tax burdens on various types of property have fared in the 20+ years since the Truth-in-Taxation law was enacted. It also shows how Utah's property tax on a primary residence compares to taxes in other states."

Today in Political History

Feb. 27, 1922:  The Supreme Court unanimously upholds the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees the right of women to vote. (Source:  NBC5) 

Feb. 27, 1933:  The German Reichstag building is set afire and the Nazis blame the Communists. A presidential decree grants Adolph Hitler emergency powers and on March 23, 24 days later, the Reichstag passes the Enabling Act, granting Hitler dictatorial powers.  (Source:  Perspicuity) 

Feb. 27, 1991: Pres. George H.W. Bush declares that "Kuwait is liberated, Iraq's army is defeated," and announces that the allies would suspend combat operations at midnight. (New York Times)

Wise Words

“To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it.”

-- Thomas Jefferson (Source:  Patriot Post) 

Campaign Tip

Issues Drive Your Campaign

Before kicking off a political campaign, it is important to first be aware of and understand the issues involved in the office you seek. You should identify the specific needs of the community or state you wish to serve, determine your positions on those issues, and how you will communicate your positions to voters. You should draft white papers and/or essays on the major issues. You must have a good knowledge and be able to speak authoritatively on many issues, but you should focus just on two or three that you want to make the center of your campaign. You must also know where your opponent stands on the issues so you can contrast your position vs. your opponent’s.  You must have thorough knowledge of all “hot-button” – or important – issues with respect to the office you seek.   (Source: Essortment) 

National Politics

Best Stories From . . .

-- Reuters: "Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton clashed sharply in a high-stakes one-on-one debate on Tuesday, accusing each other of falsely portraying their stances on health care, trade and other issues. Clinton, who needs to win next week in Ohio and Texas to keep her presidential campaign alive ..., went on the attack early in the debate at Cleveland State University in Ohio. Obama fired back repeatedly in a series of sometimes heated but controlled exchanges."

-- Politico: Obama and Clinton "have for months touted an unabashed message of economic populism, and now Democratic leaders in Congress have begun to fall in line with an economic agenda that leaves behind the centrist principles of the [Bill] Clinton years."

-- The Hill: House Democrats supporting Clinton "are rejecting Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (Calif.) plea that lawmakers not overrule voters should they be in a position to decide who will be the Democratic presidential nominee. Acrimony gathering inside the party has spurred some Democrats to begin discussing reforming the nominating process and perhaps getting rid of superdelegates altogether."

-- New York Times: "Senator John McCain said Monday that he needed to convince the American people that the troop escalation in Iraq was working and that American casualties there would continue to decline. If he did not, he said, 'I lose' the election."

Students Learning Business Skills

This is National Entrepreneurship Week and, to celebrate, a class of young entrepreneurs from Glendale Middle School in Salt Lake City will encircle the old JC Penney Building, 310 S. Main (which now houses the Zions Business Resource Center), with a giant friendship bracelet today. The lively field trip will be held from 10:30 a.m. to noon. The students recently completed the BizWorld free market simulation in teacher John Clay’s math class, where they formed friendship bracelet companies and learned about manufacturing, marketing, attracting venture capital and selling company stock. While at the Zions Business Resource Center they'll meet Director Luz Robles, Zions Bank CEO Scott Anderson, and local entrepreneurs.

Blog Watch

-- Pete Ashdown says: "Another sweet gem of ignorance has been dispensed from the Utah Legislature. HB407 asks for creation of a 'Community Conscious Internet Provider' seal, which can then be used by the Internet Service Provider (ISP) for marketing their virtue. Where it gets fun is how it asks the ISP to voluntarily give up the 4th Amendment protection of its customers. Line 85 reads, 'cooperate with any law enforcement agency by providing records sufficient to identify a customer if the law enforcement agency requests the information and supplies reasonable proof that a crime has been committed using the Internet service provider's service'. It says nothing of reasonable proof being determined by a judge and thusly issuing a court order. XMission has always taken the stand that if you want customer information you're going to need a court order. This act asks us to discard that stance in order to use a 'seal' in our marketing. If we at some point decide the seal isn't worth our customers' privacy or we somehow fail to uphold the requirements of this law, then XMission is subject to a fine of $10,000. To its credit, the bill makes handing over my customers' privacy to the state completely voluntary. No thanks." (For more on the Legislature, see Paul Rolly, The Senate Site, Salt Lake Crawler, The Utah Amicus, and KVNU's For The People.)

Lighter Side

The Supremes at Dinner

All nine U.S. Supreme Court justices were eating at a fine Washington restaurant. Observing good protocol, the waiter first asked Chief Justice John G. Roberts for his order. “I’d like prime rib,” Roberts said. The waiter continued, “And the vegetables?” Roberts looked over at the other justices and replied, “I think they can order for themselves.”

Elected Officials Birthday List

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Local Headlines

Deseret Morning News

- Most Utahns in favor of ethics-laws reforms

- Did Valentine approve Buttars' letter?

- Roads, education let down

- Ex-recorder makes 1st court appearance

- Interest strong in unconventional fuels

- 8th Utah County Demo joins race

- Salt Lake's registry facing 2nd round of attacks

- Conservative Caucus backs $18M tax cut for self-insured

- Senate OKs revised alcohol bill

- Clock ticking for migration bills

- Developer renews fight to create Wasatch town

- HAFB deal pops up on radar at Legislature

- Proposed dairy-label change criticized at hearing

- 50-plus Davis firms sign up for expo

- Rural business meeting set for March 25-26

- Editorial: IB program not un-American

- Editorial: A bad move for Bluffdale

Standard-Examiner

- FrontRunner rolls across two bridges

- Editorial: Help define transportation in the Top of Utah

KUER

- Legislative Bills Won't Change Much at UTA

Tooele Transcript Bulletin

- Community councils are becoming vital for schools

- Plan to plumb Skull Valley for oil advances

- Op-ed: Bob Swan left a lasting legacy of service

Daily Herald

- Hill seeks to represent Provo in state House

- Mexican journalist gives speech on immigration

- Commerce concerns kill metal theft bill

- Animal cruelty bill faces more votes

- Incorporation bills get unanimous House support

- Sen. Bramble proposes work on education budget, sales tax increase

- Anti-driver-privilege-card bill fails to pass committee

- Editorial: This bill is cat's meow

KSL Editorial Board

- The Energy Debate

St. George Spectrum

- Toquop exec: Plant has small air impact

- Feds slash task force funds

- Op-ed: Radical new legal theory

- Op-ed: Toquop energy project is only viable, long-term choice

Davis County Clipper

- SLC's Becker, Davis officials form accord

- IB program: Anti-American or opportunity for students?

- Immigration bills make headway

- ATK moving ammo HQ to Davis County

- Parrish Lane to become Legacy right-of-way

- HB 221 may hamper future road planning

- House committee says it's OK to display guns in public areas

- Chamber Expo unites businesses

- His point - History teachers important too

- Her point - Make teachers commodity in high demand

KCPW

- States Move Back to Paper Ballots

- Renewable Energy Initiative Clears Major Senate Hurdle

- Federal Wilderness Designation for Utah Public Lands?

- Stiffer Voter Registration Regulation Gains Momentum in Senate

- Immigrants to Keep Driver Privilege Cards

- Portes: Immigration Reform Should Be About Labor Management, Not Criminalization

Salt Lake Tribune

- Guv: State has no say on domestic registry

- Leaner times for teachers ahead?

- More school counselors has Senate backing

- Undocumented students' tuition survives, for now

- List of funding proposals downsized

- Buttars' letter not a secret on Hill

- Legislature's Web site is state-of-the-art

- Small-town creation rules could change

- Foreign visitors would see tighter laws on concealed weapons permits

- Senate unanimously backs energy proposal

- GOP House caucus prioritizes budget

- S.L. County to stay with 911 system

- Appointed legislator challenged

- Paul Rolly: My heart goes out to sensitive reporters

- Taxpayers group places Utah 10th in total tax loads

- Cottonwood Heights: City swears in new police chief

- Editorial: Immigration bill: Anti-immigration legislation a bad idea

- Editorial: Fast enough: Bill to allow higher I-15 speeds is waste of time

Please submit calendar items to Daily@UtahPolicy.com

- Feb 27: Legislative meetings scheduled throughout day. See Legislative calendar for details.

- Feb 27: Utah Democratic Party's Chair's Circle Legislative Breakfast, 7 to 8:30 a.m. Democratic Senate and House members will brief Chair's Circle members on the 2008 legislative session and respond to questions. Members complimentary; guest of members, $30. For more info or to R.S.V.P., call Tika Beard at 801-328-1212, ext. 204, or tbeard@utdemocrats.org.

- Feb 27: Midday Metro at 10 a.m. on NPR Utah, KCPW 88.3 FM: A bill that would have provided protective orders for those in violent dating relationships failed again this session. Midday Metro talks with bill sponsor and House Minority Whip David Litvack, and Melinda Pettingill, director of prevention education at the YWCA.

- Feb 27: Governor Huntsman to attend the Ribbon Cutting for Grace Mary Manor, 11:30 a.m., 19 W. Gregson Ave., Salt Lake City.

- Feb 27: "Bringing Back America's Promise," an evening with David Leavitt, Republican candidate for U.S. Congress, 7 p.m., Springville Art Museum, 126 E 400 S, Springville. Light refreshments served. RSVP not necessary but appreciated. Email lin@davidleavitt2008.com or call 801-649-5346.

- Feb 28: Mayor Peter Corroon Campaign Kickoff, 2 p.m., Cultural Celebration Center, 1355 West 3100 South (enter 3100 South at Redwood Road and go west) , West Valley City. Light refreshments served. RSVP by calling 801-467-1221 or email mrscorroon@hotmail.com

- Feb 28: Lt. Governor Herbert to attend the Utah Valley Leadership Conference, 3:30 p.m., Utah State Capitol.

- Feb 28: Mayor Peter Corroon Campaign Open House, 5 to 8 p.m., Campaign Headquarters, 1063 East 3300 South, Salt Lake. RSVP by calling 801-467-1221 or email mrscorroon@hotmail.com
- Feb 28: Salt Lake County Libertarian Party Meeting, 7 p.m., Mo's Neighborhood Grill, 358 South West Temple, Salt Lake City. For more information, visit LPUtah.org.

- Feb 28: Davis County Democrats Meeting, 7 p.m., Commission Chambers, Davis County Courthouse, 28 East State Street, Farmington. Precinct officers, delegates and the general public are invited.

- Mar 1: American Samoa Republican Presidential Caucus

- Mar 1: Equality Utah and Stonewall Democrats lobbying and delegate selection training, 11 a.m., City Library, 88 W. 100 South, St. George. Contact Nikki Boyer, chair of Stonewall Democrats, at 801-532-5330 or nikkiboyer@msn.com.

- Mar 3: Desert Greens meeting, 7 p.m., Coffee Club, just south of 4800 S. Redwood Road (east side of the road). Desert Greens is Utah's national affiliate of the Green Party of the U.S. and meets on the first Monday of the month. For more info call Eileen at 801-201-0219.

- Mar 4: Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, and Vermont Republican and Democratic Presidential Primaries

- Mar 7: 2008 political office filing period begins (runs through March 17)

- Mar 7: "Education and the Media:  Finding Common Ground," 2 to 3 p.m., Hilton Garden Inn Hotel, 1731 Convention Center Drive, St. George. The event is a free workshop with Utah's newspaper publishers and editors. Sponsored by Utah Press and Utah Journalism Education Team (UJET).

- Mar 7: BYU Executive Master of Public Administration Information Session, 7 p.m., BYU- Salt Lake Center, 3 Triad Center, Room 101. For details call 801-422-4516, email, or click here.

- Mar 8: Wyoming Democratic Presidential Caucus

- Mar 10: American Samoa Democratic Presidential Caucus

- Mar 11: Mississippi Republican and Democratic Presidential Primary

- Mar 13: The Young Democrats of Utah annual Legislative Hangover party "Take the Republicans to the Woodshed," 8 p.m., The Woodshed, 60 E. 800 South, South Lake City. See your favorite elected officials sing karaoke. Suggested donation is $5. Private club for members, must be 21 to attend. Click here for more info.

- Mar 20: Utah Republican Party Executive Committee Meeting, 7:30 a.m., Party Headquarters.

- Mar 23: Easter Sunday
- Mar 25: Republican and Democratic neighborhood political party Precinct Caucus meetings. Contact your county leadership for more info.

- Mar 29: Grand & San Juan Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinners

- Apr 1: Beaver County Republican Party Convention

- Apr 2: Millard & Juab County Republican Party Conventions

- Apr 3: District of Columbia Democratic Presidential Caucus

- Apr 3: Tooele County Republican Party Convention

- Apr 4: Wasatch & Summit County Republican Party Conventions

- Apr 5: Virgin Islands Republican Presidential Primary

- Apr 7: Desert Greens meeting, 7 p.m., Coffee Club, just south of 4800 S. Redwood Road (east side of the road). Desert Greens is Utah's national affiliate of the Green Party of the U.S. and meets on the first Monday of the month. For more info call Eileen at 801-201-0219.

- Apr 8: Rich County Republican Party Convention

- Apr 9: Morgan County Republican Party Convention

- Apr 10: Box Elder County Republican Party Convention

- Apr 11: Cache County Republican Party Convention

- Apr 12: Davis & Weber County Republican Party Conventions

- Apr 15: Piute County Republican Party Convention

- Apr 16: Wayne County Republican Party Convention

- Apr 17: Garfield County Republican Party Convention

- Apr 17: Utah Republican Party Executive Committee Meeting, 7:30 a.m., Party Headquarters.

- Apr 18: Kane County Republican Party Convention
- Apr 18: Jefferson/ Jackson Dinner sponsored by the Washington County Democrats, 6 p.m. dinner and 7 p.m. silent auction, Kenneth N. Gardner Ballroom, Dixie State College. Keynote speaker Vik Arnold, U.E.A. Director of Government Relation and Political Action. The cost is $35 per person. Contact Cyril Noble at (435) 229-1281.

- See the entire calendar