Thank you to the Utah Legislature. You have taught us Utah residents a most valuable and instructive lesson in getting legislation passed. If it's profitable, it passes!
Rather than fiddle around with trying to convince you why altering Proposition 3, preventing statewide paid maternity leave or preventing trucking alongside Woods Cross neighborhoods results in suffering and an inhumane cost to human health, we just have to convince you that it results in a terrible loss for business.
In a recent correspondence with my representative, I asked her how to move a bill forward for six weeks of paid maternity leave. To which she responded, But how will small businesses pay for it?
At first I found the response curious because I thought, surely, the health of a working mother matters more to Utah than eating into small business profitability. But, again, I was wrong. We just have to tell Utah legislators from now on that its profitable and, voila, it's like magic, the bill will pass.
Just look at how it's worked so far: More trucking? Profitable. No emissions standards? Profitable. No paid maternity leave? Profitable. Alternatives to public school. Profitable! So here it goes, let me give a try:
Paid maternity leave. Profitable.
Truck restrictions along Legacy Highway. Profitable.
Original Prop 3. Profitable.
Expanding and protecting state and federal parks and monuments. Profitable!
Let’s cross our fingers and hold our breath!
Tayler Khater, South Jordan