News roundup: Bachmann: Tea party is the 'intellectual movement'

Bachmann: Tea party is the 'intellectual movement.' Romney invites campaign aides to Utah. Lockhart turns down Senate budget offer.

Happy Monday. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann says that the tea party movement is the smart one and has proposed some brilliant ideas. "You see our movement at its core is an intellectual movement," she said. "We are based on the greatest ideas ever conceived in the mind of man. And I would put those magnificent ideas up against any other idea for freedom in the world." [Al.com]

-> Meanwhile, Mitt Romney is getting the band back together. The former 2012 presidential candidate is inviting campaign aides to ski in Utah later this month, though advisers caution its just for fun and not for strategizing about 2016. [WaPost]

Topping the news: House Speaker Becky Lockhart has turned down the Senate offer of $26 million to fund her $200 million proposal to put more technology in the classroom. [Trib] Other questions about the budget sill remain. [DNews] [Herald] [ABC4] [UtahPolicy]

-> Any decision regarding Medicaid expansion in Utah may be months away. [Trib] [KUER]

-> The House committee investigating former AG John Swallow has recovered some 400 more emails that were supposedly lost and plans to make a report public Tuesday. [Trib] [DNews] [Herald] [KUER] [KUTV]

Tweet of the day: From @RepPatriceArent: "@TheGayleRuzicka invited me to join Twitter. Perhaps she just doesn't like my posts & wants me to start over. pic.twitter.com/9AlyqbzYj5"

From @gopTODD "If you're too young to remember the Civil War, you may want to come up to the #utleg and watch the budget negotiations."

Happy Birthday: To Tribune Editor and Publisher Terry Orme

Opinion section: The executive director of the Utah Department of Health, David Patton, argues that Gov. Gary Herbert's proposal to help provide health care to low-income Utahns without expanding Medicaid is right for Utah. [Trib]

-> SLC Mayor Ralph Becker and state Reps. Johnny Anderson, R-Taylorsville, and Joel Briscoe, D-Salt Lake City, say that lawmakers need to pass proposed legislation allowing cities to put a sales tax increase for public-transit funding on the ballot. [Trib]

-> The president of the Utah Democratic Lawyers Council, Blaine L. Carlton, say that lawmakers should pass limits to campaign contributions and other election reforms. [Trib]

-> The head of the Utah Education Association, Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh, urges lawmakers to pay attention to teachers and what their needs are. [Trib]

-> Pat Bagley gives his take on the tensions between Gov. Herbert and Speaker Lockhart. [Trib]

-> Paul Rolly discusses how the compromise between lawmakers and Count My Vote organizers almost fell apart. [Trib]

-> Rolly also notes how Salt Lake City is finding new revenue — by ticketing folks parking at the Capitol with faded parking stickers. [Trib]

-> George Pyle discusses low-information voters and the less studied low-information legislator. [Trib]

-> Jason Mathis, executive director of the Downtown Alliance, says Google Fiber coming to Salt Lake City would help the city succeed. [Trib]

-> Rev. Curtis L. Price of First Baptist Church of Salt Lake City says that not all religions, or religious people, oppose marriage equality. [Trib]

-> Bob Fuehr, a candidate for the Republican 4th District congressional nomination, argues that proposed cuts to the armed services are dangerous and irresponsible. [Trib]

-> Assistant professor of political science at Utah State University Robert Nalbandov says that Russia will only respond to "hard power" and that appeasement politics will not work. [Trib]

-> Tribune Editor Terry Orme discusses the goal of the newly formed Utah Debate Commission. [Trib]

-> Frank Pignanelli and LaVarr Webb take a look at the impact of the compromise over Count My Vote. [DNews]

-> Former Sen. Bob Bennett says the Count My Vote deal is good for democracy and that many candidates may choose to go around the caucus-convention system. [DNews]

Weekend in review: Committee meetings are almost over, but there is still plenty of floor time left for you to catch. Today's schedule: [Trib].

-> A long list of ethics reforms are making their way through the Legislature, but placing a limit on campaign donations, which the federal government and most states have, is not one of them. [Trib] [DNews]

-> Lawmakers killed two bills allowing Utah to set stricter clean air standards than those the EPA sets, but one may find a way back to life. [Trib]

-> Around 37 percent of school buses in the state were built in 2001 or earlier which means they do not meet current EPA standards. A proposed bill would provide $20 million in grants to help schools buy new, cleaner buses. [Trib]

-> The debate on a bill to increase penalties for cock fighting shows the conflict between animal rights and tradition as well as urban and rural life. [Trib]

-> A Senate Committee killed a bill to regulate e-cigarettes and recommended a study. [Trib] [DNews]

-> A proposal to provide public financing to help build a new convention center hotel in downtown Salt Lake City passed a Senate committee. [Trib] [DNews] [APviaHerald] [Fox13]

-> The Senate passed a revised version of a proposal to help end fighting over boundaries within Salt Lake County. [Trib] [DNews] [Fox13]

-> The House passed legislation allowing cities to put a sales tax increase to fund public-transit on the ballot. [Trib] [KUER]

-> A Senate panel passed a bill to create a new commission in charge of relocating the Utah state prison in Draper. [Trib] [DNews]

-> Legislation to create a contingency plan to keep Utah's national parks open in the case of a federal government shutdown passed a Senate committee. [DNews]

-> A proposal to make state school board elections partisan died in the house. [Trib] [DNews] [KUER]

-> The House passed a bill exempting students with a GPA of 3.5 or higher from having to go to truancy court. [DNews]

-> The House gave its approval to a bill creating a committee to review state educational standards. [DNews]

-> The Senate moved toward a final vote on legislation giving the Senate and the governor a say in the selection of the state schools superintendent. [DNews]

-> Read about Congress' kick-the-can budgeting strategy and other topics in our D.C. Notebook. [Trib]

-> Some cities around the state have passed ordinances similar to a proposal on the Hill designed to curb aggressive panhandling. [DNews]

-> Rep. Brian King, D-Salt Lake City, says despite Democrats' superminority status, they're still scoring some wins on the Hill. [UtahPolicy]

-> The Senate passed a bill allowing judges to consider intentional exposure of children to pornography in child custody cases. [Trib] [DNews]

-> A proposal passed the Senate exempting women who need an abortion to save their lives from watching a video and reading material on alternatives. [Trib] [DNews]

-> The Senate passed a bill allowing doctors to prescribe a medication used to counter drug overdoses to a third-party. [Trib]

-> A Senate committee heard, but took no action on a Democratic Medicaid expansion proposal. [APviaKUTV]

-> A Senate committee advanced a bill to allow restricted individuals to hunt with archery equipment. [DNews]

-> Legislation allowing private companies to use automatic license plate readers to take photos in public places and store them as long as they like — as long as they don't sell them to the government — passed the Senate. [Trib]

-> ABC4 goes over some of the big issues as lawmakers start the final week of the session. [ABC4]

-> Dog owners walked their dogs on the Hill in support of a bill banning local governments from prohibiting specific breeds of dogs. [DNews]

Nationally: The Conservative Political Action Conference demonstrated how the Republican Party is still fractured between the grass-roots and old guard. [WaPost] Here are some memorable CPAC moments. [WaPost]

-> The farm bill reflects changes in how Americans eat and view their food. [NYTimes]

-> Both parties are using the special election in Florida to test their midterm strategies. [WaPost]

-> Jails and prisons have started signing up inmates for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. [NYTimes]

-> Secretary of State John Kerry rocked it at the Gridiron Club dinner on Saturday, joking that it was "so nice to put faces to the metadata." [WaPost]

Where are they?

Rep. Jason Chaffetz flies to Washington.

Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox meets with legislators, hits the Capitol Hill Working Group and later the Governor's Strategy Meeting.

President Barack Obama receives credentials from new foreign ambassadors and meets with NCAA Division I men's and women's champions.

Got a tip? A birthday, wedding or anniversary to announce? Email us at cornflakes@sltrib.com. If you haven't already, sign up for our weekday email and get this sent directly to your inbox. [Trib]

— Thomas Burr and Topher Webb Twitter.com/thomaswburr and Twitter.com/topherjwebb