This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah legislators fell all over themselves in the recently concluded session trying to show that they are more conservative than anyone else on the planet. Why? Because the tea party is gunning for them in Thursday's Republican caucuses. Our legislative wrap-up follows. Remember: If it ain't right, it ain't right.
Promoting ignorance • One bill that poses a real risk to the health and future happiness of Utah children is HB363, which withholds the facts about sex and their own sexuality. HB363 would allow school districts to eliminate the rudimentary sex education courses they offer. And it prohibits all instruction in the purposes and use of contraception.
Don't trust women • The best way to prevent unwanted pregnancy and abortion is comprehensive sex education. But the Legislature pretended otherwise and passed a 72-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions. That won't prevent abortions but it will burden a woman's constitutional right to choose abortion, so it may be unconstitutional.
Don't tread on us • Our lawmakers often try to outdo one another in their professed disdain for the federal government, even — especially — in ways that won't really change anything but waste a lot of time and taxpayers' money. This year, two such efforts were the drive to seize some 30 million acres of federally owned land in Utah and a move for the state to opt out of both Medicaid and Medicare. The first is unconstitutional. Both are foolish.
Still half-empty • The 12,500 additional students expected in Utah public schools next fall will be funded. That's good news. A 1 percent boost in per-pupil funding will just about cover teacher retirement costs but little, if any, pay increase. A proposal to earmark class-size-reduction money to kindergarten through third grade was killed by conservatives in a House committee. Another innovative Democrat-sponsored initiative to increase education funding never saw the light of day in the Senate.
A balanced budget • Elsewhere in the state's $13 billion budget, legislators did a commendable job of prioritizing financial resources. They allocated about a quarter of $440 million in new revenues to education, and they pumped another $87 million into Medicaid, the health-care program for the poor. The latter was particularly important because Medicaid rolls have been stressed by Utahns who lost their jobs during the Great Recession. Perhaps most important, legislators did not even seriously consider a tax cut, despite the fact that they had some new money to spend due to Utah's expanding economic recovery. That, too, was wise policy, because the state's services still have not recovered from the slashing they took during the recession, and population continues to expand. Lawmakers came up with money to provide more Utah Highway Patrol troopers, a pressing need that has been apparent for many years. They also allocated $22 million to begin repairs on the dilapidated heating and electrical systems at the University of Utah. Higher education faculty and staff also got a 1 percent raise. Lawmakers planned to reduce bonded indebtedness by about $130 million. It has soared in recent years to pay for highway construction, but that was wise fiscal stimulus during the recession, and the highway programs were needed. In all, lawmakers get high marks for financial stewardship. One of the few exceptions is the millions they allocated to what will be a fruitless legal crusade to wrest public lands from the federal government.
Collaborative effort • To its credit, the Legislature passed a bill mandating evaluations for teachers and administrators and tying a portion of any potential pay raise to them..
Local government • Conservative philosophy holds that government closest to the people is best. So state government is better than the federal government, and city government is better than state government. That philosophy came under attack early in the session, when it looked like state legislators would pre-empt local government authority to regulate electronic billboards, car idling and disorderly conduct due to openly displaying a gun. But a compromise was reached on idling, and the billboard and gun bills died welcome deaths.
Water works • A scheme that would have devoted 15 percent of state sales tax revenue growth to financing the Lake Powell Pipeline never got to the House floor, thank goodness. A Senate bill, by contrast, ordered a study of paying for water with retail rates and impact fees, the right approach.
Immigration time-out • Leadership spared the state a replay of the divisive immigration enforcement debate that dominated last year's session. It clamped down on bills to reopen that wound. A bill to eliminate driver privilege cards for undocumented aliens never made it past a favorable committee recommendation.