The Utah legislative session is finally over. Every year, many of us are reminded how our legislators never prioritize what matters. Instead of focusing on improving air quality or proposing meaningful solutions to the homelessness crisis, the Legislature decided to waste millions of taxpayer dollars on a sports entertainment complex, cut taxes for the wealthy, and attack transgender Utahns.
Nearly 90% of legislators are Latter-day Saints. These men and women are frequently taught to “liken the scriptures.” I propose that legislators liken the words of Moroni in Mormon 8:37,39 with some updates for 2024.
“For behold, ye do love [sporting complexes], and your [tax cuts], and your [culture wars], and the [attacks on the transgender community] more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.
Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick, and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?”
I know our legislators can do better if they embrace the words of Moroni. For the good of our state, I pray that they will liken the scriptures and find solutions to show true love to “the least of these.”
Jacob Newman, Millcreek