One of the reasons I have always liked Representative Rebecca Chavez-Houck (D – Salt Lake, District 24), is that she has always fought to expand the rights of voters in Utah. She has been a strong advocate for modernizing our democracy while still holding true to is roots. I point to HB 119, Study of Signing Petitions [...]
Archive for the ‘2012 Legislature’ Category
Bills to Watch: SB 107, Possession of Graffiti Paraphernalia, Sen. Karen Mayne
I must admit that I originally was not going to write about SB 107, Possession of Graffiti Paraphernalia for one main reason: I have very mixed feelings about the bill. However, after members of the online group Anonymous targeted (for some unknown reason) the Salt Lake City Police Department’s website in protest of this bill, I [...]
Bills to Watch: HB 298, Motor Vehicle Safety Inspection Amendments, Rep. John Dougall
I have come to a conclusion: Representative John Dougall (R-American Fork, District 27) has no idea how cause and effect, prevention, or general common sense, works. Why else would he be proposing HB 298, Motor Vehicle Safety Inspection Amendments? A bill that, based on his own arguments in the media, is a bad decision. HB 298 would eliminate the [...]
Bills to Watch: HB 226, Closed Meeting Amendments, Rep. Kraig Powell
I am deeply concerned with the utter disdain Representative Kraig Powell (R-Heber City, District 54) is showing towards the citizens of Utah. I have already written about his desire to remove people from the voter file – and now I am sickened by his push to make policy making a closed door affair. Yes, Powell’s HB 226, Closed Meeting Amendments, [...]
Bills to Watch: HB 263 Unemployment Benefits for Military Spouse, Rep. Lynn Hemingway
After reading up on HB 263, Unemployment Benefits for Military Spouse as proposed by Representative Lynn Hemingway (D – Salt Lake City, District 40), I was shocked to find out we needed a bill like this in the first place. Being the spouse of a serviceman or woman is a difficult one, often times meaning that you [...]
Bills to Watch: SB 115, Historical District Creation Requirements, Sen. Wayne Niederhauser
This time last year, Senator Wayne Niederhauser (R – Sandy, District 9) showed just how much disregard he has for local government sovereignty by proposing SB 243 – Historic Areas or Sites Amendments. Apparently, in the past year, Niederhauser realized just how draconian his law really was to begin with…but is still missing the point. Time to pull out [...]
Bills to Watch: SB 138, Health Insurance Mandate Accountability Amendments, Sen. Todd Weiler
If there is one thing I have come to watch during my “Bills to Watch” series, it is that I should automatically become suspicious of any legislation that attempts to change benefits to state employees. Why? Because it inevitably means that we will be screwing over the public servants who are trying to make the [...]
Bills to Watch: HB 87, Billboard Revisions, Rep. Melvin Brown
If there is one thing our Utah State Legislature is good at, it is talking out of both sides of its mouth. Take, for example, HB 87, Billboard Revisions, as proposed by Representative Melvin Brown (R-Coalville, District 53). It seems that every year we hear the legislature complain about how there is too much government [...]
Bills to Watch: HB 283, State Stores Pilot Program for Days of Sale of Liquor, Rep. Patrice Arent
One of the many perplexing liquor laws in Utah revolves around state liquor stores being closed on the more “obscure” legal holidays. Most Utahns don’t get holidays like Columbus Day or Presidents Day off from work, yet our liquor stores are inexplicably closed on those days. Thankfully Representative Patrice Arent (D – Salt Lake City, District 36) is attempting to [...]
Bills to Watch: SB 34, Production and Sale of Food in Utah Revisions, Sen. Casey Anderson
After reading through SB 34, Production and Sale of Food in Utah Revisions, I literally spat out a sigh of disgust/confusion/and general “huh?” a-tude. The bill, proposed by Senator Casey Anderson (R-Cedar City, District 28) says that if an agricultural product is grown, distributed, and consumed entirely in Utah, it is exempt from federal regulation. This was the confusion [...]