Narrow-minded, partisan political decisions being made by legislators in Utah is a growing scourge, particularly from the GOP (shocker, I know).
In an April 5 article written by Bryan Schott (“Gov. Cox appointed a Democratic physician to the Utah Air Quality board. GOP lawmakers said ‘no.’”) we read that two rural legislators — Derrin Owens, R-Fountain Green, and Ron Winterton, R-Roosevelt — both quashed Gov. Spencer Cox’s nomination of (no less) Dr. Suzanne Harrison to the Utah Air Quality board because she had the guts to vote against their previous environmental-related legislation (read: loyalty to Big Oil), while she served as a member of the Legislature, and for her general position on environmental issues.
Why do small-town yokels like Owens and Winterton — neither of whom live along the Wasatch Front where air quality is a major concern — get to shoot down a viable, knowledgeable candidate like Harrison just because she’s not a GOP stooge and votes her conscience?
Legislators in rural districts who represent a tiny fraction of Utah’s population should not be on powerful committees that don’t affect their constituents — period.
Brad Fullmer, Kaysville