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, [...]
Archive for the ‘Republicans’ Category
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: 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 [...]
Bills to Watch: SB 19, Voter Information Pamphlets, Sen. Peter Knudson
Senator Peter Knudson’s (R- Brigham City, District 17) heart appears to be in the right place when he proposed SB 19, Voter Information Pamphlets, however the timing is a bit off. Now, in the olden days, people actually had to walk uphill, both ways, with snow up to their ears to receive a voter information packet – it [...]
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: 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: 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 [...]
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 [...]