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Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, denounced as patronizing to females a proposal to extend the life of the Women in the Economy Commission, which would otherwise go out of existence on July 1.
The commission implies "that maybe women need special help," she said, noting, "there is not a 'Man in the Economy Commission,' so I wonder about the value."
Dayton said, "I'm quite convinced that if we had a 'Men in the Economy Commission' that there would be a hue and cry from the women that there was no 'man in the economy issue' that did not include women."
Dayton, who lists her profession as "homemaker" on the Senate website, disagreed with some senators' arguments that women face challenges that men do not. "The opposite is true. Men have challenges that women don't. I think in all fairness there's not a need to avoid the sunset" to allow the commission to disappear.
But other women senators disagreed.
Sens. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, and Deidre Henderson, R-Spanish Fork, who are both members of the commission, said it has helped address issues including the wage gap between men and women, and lower college graduation rates by women.
Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, who sponsored original legislation to create the commission, said he did so at the urging of the late House Speaker Becky Lockhart.
He said she originally also fought the idea of any reference in law that was different for women than men, but became convinced that wage gaps and related issues merited a commission to study the issues for solutions.
The Senate passed HB56 with a 21-5 vote on Thursday, and sent it to Gov. Gary Herbert for his signature.