Curtis Haring

Bills to Watch: SJR 7 – Joint Resolution on Priority Status for Bills

I don’t even know where to begin on this one folks. With SJR 7 – Joint Resolution on Priority Status for Bills, Senator Margaret Dayton (R – Orem – District 15) is such an overt attempt to squelch the rights of the political minority that it sounds more like the fiat of a third world dictator [...]

Bills to Watch: SB 31, Classroom Size Amendments, Sen. Karen Morgan

I must admit that I was impressed when I saw that Senator Karen Morgan (D – Salt Lake –District 8) proposed SB 31, Classroom Size Amendments. It is short, it is sweet, and it cuts to the very core of one of the principal problems with Utah schools: large class sizes. Morgan is proposing that there [...]

Bills to Watch: HB 30, Unemployment Insurance Amendments, Rep. Jeremy Peterson

When I first noticed HB 30, Unemployment Insurance Amendments as proposed by Representative Jeremy Peterson (R – Ogden, District 9), I have to admit that I was ready to completely rip into the bill, but after much consideration, I have decided to only point out its many flaws. The long and short of the bill is that [...]

Bills to Watch: SJR 5, Joint Resolution on Education, Sen. Stewart Reid

Like a shuffling zombie, Senator Stewart Reid (R – Ogden,District 18) is bringing back from the dead last years awful resolution that attempts to change the Utah Constitution so that the Governor, rather than the State Board of Education, controls the supervision of our public education system. Yes, the only thing that Reid changed this year was the title: SJR 5, Joint Resolution on Education [...]

Bills to Watch: SJR 6, Joint Resolution Amending State Taxing Authority, Sen. Casey Anderson

Freshman Senator Casey Anderson (R-Cedar City, District 28), who has not even been in office long enough to make a baby, feels that he is ready to fundamentally change our taxation system by making it more difficult to increase taxes. Yes, SJR 6, Joint Resolution Amending State Taxing Authority, is some good ol’ fashion red [...]

Bills to Watch: HB 253, Voter Registration Amendments, Rep. Kraig Powell

I am getting sick of the annual attacks Republicans in the legislature lob towards a citizens right to vote. Every year they try (often successfully) to make it just a little bit harder for you to exercise your right to participate in your government. If they are not trying to put the administration of elections [...]

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Bills to Watch: HB 199, Elimination of Daylight Saving Time, Rep. Jim Nielson

Yes, another year has passed, and another legislator is proposing the elimination of Daylight Savings time.  Last year Representative Wilcox thought it would be a great idea and the year prior Representative Sumsion took a crack at it. This year, it appears that Representative Jim Nielson (R-Bountiful, District 19) drew the short straw at the conservative caucus [...]

Bills to Watch: HB 245, Amendment to Definition of Smoking in Utah Indoor Clean Air Act, Rep. Bradley Last

It is interesting to see just how far legislators are willing to go to stamp out smoking all together in Utah. Representative Bradley Last (R-Hurricane, District 71), for example, is willing to go so far as to attack stop-smoking devices from being in the public’s air. By proposing HB 245, Amendment to Definition of Smoking in [...]

Bills to Watch: HB 63, Mobile Home Park Residency Act Amendments, Rep. Janice Fisher

It is an understatement to say that Utah has poor renters rights, placing greater worth on landlords and property owners. In the class of renters, there is an even worse off group of people – those living in mobile homes. State and local laws are so bad that, currently, mobile home renters have no process [...]