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News Highlights
Rep. Greg Curtis may be reconsidering HB97, which he insists is not a power grab (Deseret Morning News, Standard-Examiner,
Daily Herald,
and Salt Lake Tribune); Columnist Bob Bernick Jr. also weighs in on the controversy (Morning News)
Sierra Club poised to continue battle against Legacy Highway (Tribune); Rep. David Cox calls a possible lawsuit 'financial terrorism' (Standard-Examiner).
Senate GOP caucus not quite there on $85 million for highways (Morning News).
Former Gov. Mike Leavitt presses to reform Medicaid (Tribune and St. George Spectrum).
Quote of the Day
“Every so often, an American politician takes an unpopular stand for the sake of what's right... Frequently, he takes an unprincipled stand for the sake of what's popular ...Sometimes, even, he does what's right, which also happens to be popular...
”Only in the rarest of instances, however, do politicians take positions that are both unpopular and unprincipled. That is where the Democratic Party leadership finds itself today on Iraq."
-- Wall Street Journal, Review & Outlook, Feb 3, 2005
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Friday Buzz
Compiled and
Written by LaVarr Webb |
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Excellent commentary on President Bush’s State of the Union speech by Howard Fineman, a Newsweek reporter.
What will $6.2 Billion Buy?
To cope with explosive growth and massive transportation congestion over the next several years, Utah’s local government and business leaders have endorsed a $6.2 billion plan to accelerate construction of highway and mass transit projects in 10 years instead of 20 years.
The $6.2 billion would include $4.1 billion for highways and $2.1 billion for mass transit, mostly rail projects, of which $1.9 billion will come from current revenue sources, leaving $4.3 billion in unfunded needs. The local government leaders and business leaders, led by the Salt Lake Chamber, have recommended a variety of financing options, including tax increases on gasoline and some transportation-related fee increases.
What would Utahns get for this big investment in transportation? Here is the list of the major projects, and there would also be dozens of smaller projects.
- Expand I-15 through southern Salt Lake and Utah counties
- Expand I-15 through Davis and Weber counties
- Build commuter rail from Weber County to Provo
- Build the West Valley and Mid-Jordan light rail spurs (TRAX)
- Build TRAX extensions to Draper and the Salt Lake International Airport
- Complete the Legacy Parkway and Preserve in Davis County
- Complete the Mountain View Corridor highway and transit improvements in western Salt Lake County and northern Utah County
- Develop Bus Rapid Transit in Utah County, Davis County and Weber County
- Initiate the North Legacy Highway
With that level of funding, TRAX, commuter rail, or Bus Rapid Transit would be a short walk or short drive from nearly anywhere along the Wasatch Front. It would be an enormous step toward mobility and economic development.
New Utah Blog
Ethan Millard of Salt Lake City has started a new blog at www.slcspin.blogspot.com. He comments on Utah politics, media and related topics. He writes in blogging style very well, with short, punchy items and lots of links. “I intend it to be independent from a specific political ideology but not necessarily independent of my own opinion,” he said in a note to me.
Utah Trivia
Utah’s mountains, on average, are the tallest in the country. The average elevation of the tallest peaks in each of Utah’s counties is 11,222 feet, higher than the average elevation of the tallest peaks in each county of any other state. The highest mountain in Utah is Kings Peak at 13,528 feet, in the Uinta Mountains in Duchesne County. Lowest point in Utah is Beaver Dam Wash, at 2,350 feet, in Washington County near St. George.
Casual Friday
- The early worm gets eaten by the bird, so sleep late.
- Birthdays are good for you; the more you have, the longer you live.
- If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
- A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
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How to Communicate with
Opinion Leaders |
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Nearly every political failure is a failure of communications. In a persuasive communications campaign dealing with public policy issues, it is usually very important to communicate with opinion leaders, including elected officials, news media personnel, political activists, and influential business, academic and religious leaders.
But how do you reach them in a timely and cost-effective manner? It’s usually fairly easy to develop the right messages and determine the target audiences. But delivering the message is often the hard part.
Press releases and press conferences are important, but they are filtered by the news media and may or may not do the job of delivering your message to the right audience. Paid advertising is another good option, but it is expensive and requires significant production effort.
Today, another channel exists to reach a wide range of Utah opinion leaders. It is this e-mail newsletter, Utah Policy Daily. Each workday morning, UPD is sent to about 5,000 subscribers, many of whom are Utah’s opinion leaders, including most state legislators, many county and city leaders, many news reporters and editors, congressional staffers in Washington, D.C., political party leaders, and so forth.
If your organization needs to communicate with Utah’s political community and opinion leaders, consider how Utah Policy Daily might provide an excellent communications channel. We can help in a variety of ways. E-mail us at daily@utahpolicy.com for more information.
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Friday
February 4, 2005
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Please submit calendar items to Daily@UtahPolicy.com
- Feb 5: Annual Green Party of Utah Convention, 10 am to 2 pm, Anderson-Foothill Library, 1135 E 2100 S, Salt Lake City.
- Feb 12: Morgan County Lincoln Day Dinner.
- Feb 12: Utah County Lincoln Day Dinner.
- Feb 12: Davis County Democrats “No Host” breakfast/monthly food drive, 8:30 am, Grannie Annie’s restaurant, 286 N 400 W, Kaysville. The public is invited and everyone is asked to bring a non-perishable food item to benefit the food banks in Davis County.
- Feb 18: Last day for legislators to prioritize bills and other programs with fiscal impact.
- Feb 23: Final meeting for the Executive Appropriations Committee on all budget matters.
- Feb 25: Massachusetts Gov. and 2008 presidential hopeful Mitt Romney speaks at Salt Lake County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner, 7 pm, Little America Hotel. For ticket information see: www.lincolnclub.net.
- Feb 25: Salt Lake County Lincoln Day Dinner.
- Feb 25: Bonding bill available to legislators by noon and final action taken on it by calendared closing time.
- Feb 25: Last day to pass bills with fiscal note of $10,000 or more.
- Feb 27: Last day to consider bills from own house.
- Feb 27: Last day for a motion to reconsider.
- Feb 28: General appropriations bill, supplemental appropriations bill, and school finance bill available to legislators by calendared floor time and final action taken on each bill by calendared closing time.
- Mar 2: Second supplemental appropriations bill available to legislators by calendared floor time and final action taken by noon.
- Mar 2: 2005 legislative session ends.
- Mar 12: Davis County Democrats “No Host” breakfast/monthly food drive, 8:30 am, Grannie Annie’s restaurant, 286 N 400 W, Kaysville. The public is invited and everyone is asked to bring a non-perishable food item to benefit the food banks in Davis County.
- Mar 22: Last day governor may sign or veto bills.
- Mar 26: Republican Women Federation Fundraiser and Auction, "Heroes of the Heart," 5:30 pm, McKay Events Center, UVSC, Provo. Speakers: First Lady Mary Kaye Huntsman and Sen. Orrin Hatch. For more information, please contact Suzanne Merrill - 801-796-0831.
- Apr 9: Davis County Democratic Party Organizing Convention, 11 am, Farmington Jr. High School,150 S. 200 West, Farmington.
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