By maryann martindale

If the Utah Legislature were a spaghetti western, it would be "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly."

With a 45-day session, time on Capitol Hill is precious. But with a record-breaking 900 bills opened this year — a statistical impossibility to pass — one has to wonder if the legislators were paying attention during Gov. Gary Herbert’s State of the State speech when he declared education the session’s top priority.

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The Good — Yes, there are actually good bills proposed each session that don’t always get the press they deserve, but here are a few of the best:

Rep. Patrice Arent hits a double with pro-education HB65 for enhanced college and career counseling, and again with HB70 to establish a much-needed air quality task force

Rep. Jim Dunnigan gets a do-over with HB33, correcting last year’s bill extending the fireworks season, no doubt after hearing from every dog owner in the state.

Sen. Karen Morgan is pushing for SB31 to ensure smaller K-3 classroom sizes.

Two bills, HB89 by Rep. Kraig Powell, and SB45, by Sen. Ross Romero, would open party caucuses, which, unfortunately for fans of open and transparent government, Senate President Michael Waddoups declared "dead on arrival."

In an attempt to take on predatory payday lending, both Rep. Jim Nielon and Sen. Ben McAdams have bills HB206 and SB90, respectively.

And last, but certainly not least, is HB51, McAdams’ bill to mandate a statewide nondiscrimination ordinance. All are examples of how writing good legislation is possible.

The Bad — is a sampling of the bills that are unnecessary, overkill, overreach, or just plain dumb (see 2011, Rep. Carl Wimmer, state gun).

Nielson goes after the scourge of daylight savings time with HB199. Yes, it can be annoying, but is this really a pressing issue?

HB209 is Rep. Fred C. Cox’s plan for reclaiming national parks under the guise of saving education. The fact that Utah has never owned these lands and, as in the Utah Constitution, would never claim that we did, is apparently irrelevant.

Rep. John Dougall is proposing HJR 10, a constitutional amendment to do away with voting district residency requirements for legislators.

Rep. Kenneth Sumsion is hoping to cut his commute by increasing the speed limit in the already-confusing HOV lane with HB264.

Rep. Johnny Anderson wants to make sure hookah parties are outlawed in the Capitol Rotunda. And in a real head-scratcher, Anderson’s SB34 says that if you grow, distribute and consume food in Utah you can ignore any federal regulations. You know — the ones regarding safety. You may still get charged with a crime, but don’t worry, the officer will also be charged with a misdemeanor, and on the off chance you’re cited and they aren’t, the state will pay for your trouble

Really, we couldn’t make this up.

The Ugly — Bills that are just plain bad for Utah. We see far too many of them each year, and this year is no exception.

Our first winner is Rep. Chris Herrod’s HB300. He described his revisions to existing immigration law as a "compassionate" approach. But after reading the bill we are sure he misunderstood the definition of the word. If the Legislature is looking for a mean-spirited, overly punitive law, it need not look further than this bill.

Every year, as part of a strategic plan to eliminate any autonomous opposition to legislative control we see bills that erode the authority of non-legislative groups. This year, Sen. Stuart Reid has two bills, SJR5 and SB39, that would give the governor authority over higher education, and Sen. Margaret Dayton takes a sledgehammer to environmental oversight with SB11 and SB21.

In an effort to improve declining voter turnout, with his HB253 Powell wants to massage the statistics by removing you from the list of voters as a penalty for not voting.