Some conservative Utah lawmakers say they fear that the words "liberally construed" in laws and agency rules give bureaucrats and judges too much leeway to force their will on the people.

A legislative committee on Tuesday debated whether to strike the words from the 55 laws and rules where they appear, favoring a strict interpretation whenever they are enforced.

"We should never be exceeding the intent of law," said Rep. Curtis Oda, R-Clearfield.

But Oda pointedly asserted that the discussion is not about purging "liberal" from the code because of its political connotations. There's "no witch hunt," he said. "This inquiry has nothing to do with any kind of political statements."

An example of the language is in a school-safety rule adopted by the Utah Department of Health: "This rule shall be liberally construed and applied to provide minimum requirements for the protection of the health and safety of the school occupants and the general public."

Rep. Rebecca Lockhart, R-Provo, raised the issue and said she wanted to understand how the language is applied by agencies -- and why they're applying it if the Legislature hasn't dictated such "wiggle room." Sen. Mark Madsen, Lehi, said the wording potentially enables government officials to overreach their authority to the detriment of individual freedoms.

Representatives for several agencies testified that the opposite is true: They use a flexible interpretation of laws and rules to give individuals the benefit of the doubt. For instance, when someone faces a hunting violation or has another grievance with the Division of Wildlife Resources, the agency's rule advises a liberal interpretation to reach a "just, speedy and economic" outcome.

"It promotes the public interest," said Martin Bushman, assistant attorney general for the division.

Likewise, Terry Beebe of the Utah County Health Department said, public health inspectors use the leeway as a chance to educate violators when that makes more sense than strict enforcement of penalties.

Some committee members argued that removing the language from all laws and rules might hamstring the state's enforcement efforts. For instance, the state needs flexibility to enforce its tobacco rules as new products such as nicotine mints come on the market, said Sen. Brent Goodfellow, D-West Valley City.

"We might have unintended consequences," Goodfellow said.

The committee decided to withhold any action until its staff compiles a list of which "liberally construed" laws tend to allow expanded government powers and which are meant to allow leniency in enforcement. The staff will also determine which agency rules use the language without a statutory directive to do so.