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Letter: Utah Legislature acts as if it doesn’t understand its role or restrictions on what it can do

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) A boater heads into Utah Lake from Lincoln Beach on Thursday, July 29.

The Utah Legislature and its members continue to demonstrate that they don’t understand their place in state government. The Legislature makes the laws, it doesn’t enforce them. But the Legislature keeps placing itself or its members in positions to enforce or effectuate the laws.

The Legislature also doesn’t understand about appointing its members to positions it creates, like the Utah Lake Authority Board in HB232. HB232 requires the appointment of a current senator and House member to the board. Two Utah constitutional provisions prohibit current members from being appointed and serving on the board: Article VI sec 7 prohibits a legislator from being appointed to a position created during the term for which he or she was elected; and Article VI sec 6 prohibits a person holding a position of profit or trust under authority of the state (like the ULA Board) from being a member of the Legislature.

So how is the Legislature going to fill those positions on the board with its members?

Thom Roberts, Salt Lake City

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