Under a new chief appointed by President Donald Trump, the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposes to roll back an Obama-era rule designed to protect Americans from predatory payday lenders (who charge an average 528 percent APR in Utah). The move would stop requiring lenders to ensure that a customer is able to repay loans. It says that current rule may make it too hard for the poor to access credit. Consumer groups say the change would gut protection. It was first proposed by then-acting agency director Mick Mulvaney, who is now the acting White House chief of staff. He argued when he was a South Carolina congressman that the agency had overstepped its boundaries and has sought to rein it in. [CNN]
Happy Thursday.
Topping the news: The controversial bill to replace Proposition 3’s full medicaid expansion plan with a more restrictive and initially more costly expansion is headed to the full House. A committee approved it 9-6 on Wednesday. Three Republicans voted against it — including the bill’s House sponsor, Rep. Jim Dunnigan. [Trib] [Fox13] [DNews] [ABC4]
-> Since Utah’s first female state senator, Martha Hughes Cannon, left her seat in 1896, only 29 other women have filled the same role. This information created a commotion among social media users in the state after it was shared by an amateur Utah historian. [Trib]
-> A bill that would prohibit abortions in Utah of fetuses diagnosed with Down syndrome cleared committee and is headed for the full House. Rep Karianne Lisonbee says a clause in the bill would avoid legal pitfalls by staying the ban until the measure is upheld by a court with jurisdiction over Utah. [Trib] [DNews] [ABC4]
Tweets of the day: @RobertGehrke “Christensen says Prop 3 has to be fixed or else money would come out of public education. His bill is MORE EXPENSIVE than Prop 3. #utpol”
-> @transport_tom “Big snow storm in Salt Lake today. Work schedules delayed, schools closed, roads w/ serious backups. Now, imagine how much stronger, safer, and more resilient our economy and infrastructure would be if we focused land use/development around walking and transit.”
-> @Mskriebe “I am the 31st female Senator in the HERstory of Utah and the 22nd female Democratic Senator.”
Happy Birthday: to state Sen. Jani Iwamoto and state Rep. Brad Daw.
In other news: After years of trying, a bill to give more teeth to laws prohibiting hand-held cell phone use while driving has finally made it past committee and is on its way to the House. [Trib] [DNews]
-> While the federal government could risk another shutdown if a budget proposal is not approved by Feb. 16, Utah’s state government will not face the same problem. As the Legislature does every year, it passed a barebones, base budget for 2019 on Wednesday. It will discuss additions to those budgets through the remainder of its session. [Trib]
-> A poll shows that 55 percent of Utahns would oppose a move by the Legislature to repeal or change Proposition 4, which ordered formation of an independent redistricting commission to help stop gerrymandering. [UtahPolicy]
-> Jennie Taylor, widow of North Ogden Mayor Brent Taylor killed in Afghanistan last year, talks about how her trip to Washington to hear the State of the Union address and receive honors for her husband gave more meaning to his death. [DNews]
-> On this week’s episode of “Trib Talk,” Salt Lake Tribune editor Jennifer Napier-Pearce speaks about the role of a free press in society, and why journalism matters. [Trib]
-> Tribune columnist Robert Gehrke, responds to claims that Medicaid expansion would overhaul the state’s budget. [Trib]
-> Columnist Michelle Quist argues the Legislature “needs to slow down its fast-tracked steamroller over what everyone can argue is the true will of Utah” when it passed Prop 3 to expand Medicaid. [Trib]
-> Pat Bagley illustrates the modus operandi of Utah feminists. [Trib]
Nationally: As U.S. House Democrats step-up investigations into the Trump administration, the president lashes out in Tweets early Thursday morning calling it a witch hunt and “presidential harassment.” [WaPost]
-> A third wave of scandal for Democrats broke out in Virginia on Wednesday after Attorney General Mark Herring admitted to also wearing blackface, after he had called called for Gov.Ralph Northam to resign for reportedly doing the same. It comes the same week that allegations of sexual assault surfaced against the state’s Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax whose accuser spoke publicly Wednesday, detailing the events of the alleged assault. [Politico] [NYTimes]
-> House Speaker Nancy Pelosi predicted Wednesday that Republican leaders in Congress will not support another partial government shutdown over funding for President Trump’s proposal to build a wall along the Mexican border. [TheHill]
-> The House Intelligence Committee voted Wednesday to send witness interview transcripts from its Russia investigation to special counsel Robert Mueller. They could be used to bring new charges of perjury against witnesses that testified before the committee including Donald Trump Jr. [Politico]
-> The U.S. Justice Department announced an investigation into a plea deal that allowed Jeffrey E. Epstein to avoid federal charges on accusation of molesting dozens of underage girls in 2007. Current U.S. Labor Secretary, R. Alexander Acosta was the prosecutor at the time in charge of negotiating the deal. [NYTimes]
-> NASA scientists announced on Wednesday that the Earth’s average surface temperature last year was the fourth highest in nearly 140 years. The five warmest years in recorded history have been the last five. [NYTimes]
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Lee Davidson and Christina Giardinelli
twitter.com/LeeDavi82636879, twitter.com/Ninetta89