This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Renowned 20th-century theologian and philosopher Thomas Merton wrote a passage in one of his 70-plus books that seems relevant to what is happening in the Utah Legislature:
"It is easy enough to tell the poor to accept their poverty as God's will when you yourself have warm clothes and plenty of food and medical care and a roof over your head and no worry about the rent. But if you want them to believe you — try to share some of their poverty and see if you can accept it as God's will yourself."
The House, as you know, is refusing to vote on and even debate Healthy Utah, the governor's alternative to Medicaid expansion. It passed the Senate and would cover about 140,000 needy Utahns. The bill didn't have the support of the Republican House Caucus, which talked about it behind closed doors.
But those House members enjoy one of the best health-care plans available, subsidized by Utah taxpayers. And if they serve in the Legislature for 10 years, they qualify for that health insurance for life.
Attempts to limit that perk have failed.
So take Merton's advice, representatives. Forgo your state-subsidized health care and walk in the shoes of the poor.
Lawmaker is like Sisyphus • New House Speaker Greg Hughes justified the snub of Healthy Utah by noting the limited time left in the legislative session and the many important issues that still need to be addressed.
So he ought to have a chat about time-wasting with Rep. Brian Greene, R-Pleasant Grove.
Like the character in Greek mythology who kept pushing a giant boulder up a mountain only to have it roll back down again, Greene so desperately wants folks in businesses and trades regulated by state commissions and boards to be able to have past disciplinary actions expunged that he has brought his HB109 to the House Judiciary Committee six times.
The Commerce Department opposes the bill, arguing potential investors or clients should know about past penalties.
Greene lists his occupation as real estate investment services, which is regulated by the state. Besides his expungement bill, he also is pushing a measure to ease disclosure requirements for certain types of real estate investments.
During his sixth attempt on the disclosure bill Friday, he made a motion to send it back to the Rules Committee to be studied during interim meetings this year.
That was then, this is now • Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, offered a bill that would delay implementation of the Count My Vote compromise passed last year, when a petition drive threatened to put dramatic election law changes on the ballot.
The Senate rejected Jenkins' measure.
Republican Sens. Margaret Dayton of Orem, Deidre Henderson of Spanish Fork, Mark Madsen of Saratoga Springs, Daniel Thatcher of West Valley City and Jenkins — among others — voted for the bill. These five also voted against the compromise bill last year. So they were consistent.
But two senators, Howard Stephenson of Draper and Allen Christensen of North Ogden, were flip-flops. They backed the compromise last year to stop the petition drive. Then they voted to delay it this year, when the petition drive no longer loomed as a threat, as if to say to all those Utahns who favor the compromise: "Suckers!"