Too many Utah legislators ignore the community’s needs in this one-party, gerrymandered state. Yet they are wondering why citizens are gathering signatures on several issues that are smothered during business as usual.
Rep. Mike Schultz’s bill would void any initiative to raise taxes for schools. Only the legislators get to rule, even though the Utah Supreme Court has upheld the initiative process.
Rep. Mike Noel has no qualms in trying to get taxpayers to cover taxes on privatized land like his, suspiciously extracted from the Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument. His conflict-of-interest actions adversely affect several other land-use issues. There seems no check on his overreach.
The biggest outrage against the community, however, is HB169, reducing fees on imported depleted uranium. This waste can be as toxic as class C, which several former governors have refused over the years.
With Noel chairing the House Rules Committee, EnergySolutions’ lobbyists will be swarming around him to propel the bill forward. Campaign contributions have been moving the process, no doubt.
Please, Speaker Hughes, remove Noel from the chairmanship which he so abuses. It’s time to consider constituents’ wishes and the good of the community.
Polly D. Hough, Salt Lake City