- Budgets, Alabama, Count My Vote, a tax overhaul and Utah lawmakers are heading toward the exit. Bob Bernick and Bryan Schott chew over the last week in Utah politics [Utah Policy]. Here’s a podcast if that’s what you prefer [Utah Policy].
- Sen. Brian Shiozawa‘s exit has Republicans and Democrats scrambling to fill the seat. There are 8 Republicans so far who are running to replace Shiozawa. Democrats, on the other hand, are trying to find someone to challenge Kathie Allen for the Democratic nomination because they worry Allen has too much baggage to win an election [Utah Policy].
- Bob Bernick says all he wants for Christmas is Mitt Romney to run for Orrin Hatch‘s Senate seat [Utah Policy].
- Sen. Mike Lee says he is still not on board with the GOP tax overhaul package. Lee wants to see a more significant expansion of the child tax credit [Deseret News].
- Utah Republicans are fighting over a proposal to pay off the party’s $400,000 debt. Several members of the State Central Committee have called a special meeting for Saturday to vote on the bailout, but chairman Rob Anderson says the meeting is not legitimate [Tribune, KUTV].
- Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski has hired Ken Bullock to handle intergovernmental relations for the city. Bullock previously resigned from the Utah League of Cities and Towns after a state audit found he improperly charged $57,000 to a credit card which he used as loans for personal purposes. Bullock also had about $130,000 in questionable charges he could not provide receipts for [Deseret News, Tribune].
- Utah County legislators are discussing ways to make it easier to remove county officials from office after the controversy involving Utah County Commissioner Greg Graves. Graves has been accused of improper workplace conduct but refuses to resign [Daily Herald].
- Local Utah officials testify before a Congressional committee about a proposed new national park and three new national monuments in southern Utah [Deseret News, Tribune].
- The Salt Lake Chamber calls on the Utah Legislature to make revamping the tax code a top priority during the 2018 session [Deseret News].
- BYU and UVU have entered into an agreement with the Utah Transit Authority to provide free passes to university students and faculty [Daily Herald, Deseret News, Tribune].
