Dear members of the Utah State Legislature, I was troubled (but not surprised) by a recent blog post by Speaker Lockhart posted regarding the redistricting process and the complaints that have arisen from it. In essence, she speaks down to the complaints of those who feel that the process has been unfair – emphasizing that the [...]
Archive for the ‘Utah State Legislature’ Category
If the State Wasted the Public’s Time, Why can’t I Waste Its?
This month I have the to suffer the joy that is renewing my car registration. The fee is a stone cold $170 to legally drive on Utah’s roads for another year. I will, of course, pay this fee, along with any sort of costs to test my cars safety and emission standards because I rather [...]
Big Government Republicans Strike Again
Once again, a Republican Utah state legislator is attacking the free market system because they are more concerned about their own special interests rather than allowing people to make their own choices. But, surely this is because it is in the best interest of the people because, say, they want to ensure that all Utahn’s [...]
Legislative Rankings – 2011
It dawned on me the other day that during this past legislative session I went through the effort of ranking various bills that were important to the state – in essence creating a ranking of bills from great to gawdaweful. You probably noticed the little rankings at the bottom of each post in the Bills [...]
Senator Reid stands by GRAMA vote, despite logic
Senator Stewart Reid (R – Ogden, District 18) just doesn’t seem to get it as he continually chooses to stand by his yea vote on HB 477 and his nay vote on HB 1001 to repeal the draconian GRAMA (Government Records Access Management Act) law. In yesterdays Salt Lake Tribune, Reid said 477 should have [...]
Legislative Wrap Up: Part V – Overall
Now that we have evaluated some of the more subtle nuances of the maneuvering that took place this legislative session, it is time to step back and take a look at the big picture. All things considered, this legislative session was slightly better than those in years past. This could be due to a number [...]
Legislative Wrap Up: Part IV – Education
It is a sad state of affairs when the best we can boast regarding education in the State of Utah is that we were able to hold the line on education funding; but that is exactly the case. What makes it even sadder is that this is actually an improvement. We must acknowledge, however, that [...]
Legislative Wrap Up: Part III – Citizen Participation
Over the past year, we saw two organizations actively worked against the legislative status quo by questioning not only the ethics of the legislators, but also the process they use to draw districts in the state. In many ways, the 2011 legislative session actively attempted to punish Fair Boundaries and Utahns for Ethical Government, and [...]
Legislative Wrap Up: Part II – Immigration
If there was one debate that truly became contentious this year, it was the immigration debate. Representative Sandstrom (R – Orem – District 58) launched the opening salvo by proposing HB 70 – Illegal Immigration Enforcement Act. Although this bill would ultimately fail, its existence created more than enough problems for the legislative session. Despite [...]
Legislative Wrap-up, On the Air!
Listen tonight on KRCL’s RadioActive as I am joined by Representatives Rebecca Chavez-Houck and Holly Richardson to discuss what took place on Capitol Hill this year. That’s KRCL 90.9 at 6:00 PM. Good times should be had!