The United Utah Party announced its opposition to HB 133 and 135 - two bills recently passed by the Utah House of Representatives that make it more difficult for initiatives to get on the state ballot. 

"These bills place more burdens on initiative gatherers and make it easier for opposing groups to knock off signatures," said Richard Davis, United Utah Party chair.   "Plus they give more time to the legislature to revise or even scuttle initiatives they don't like."

The bills were proposed by Representative Brad Daw (Republican of Orem) and Representative Norm Thurston (Republican of Provo).  They passed the House 50-20 and 50-21 respectively. 

"The lesson legislators have learned from the passage of Propositions 2, 3, and 4 last year is that the initiative process is too easy and should be made harder,” Davis added. "The lesson they should have learned is they need to be more responsive to what the public wants.  That is a lesson they may not ever learn until they get defeated at the polls.

Calling on the State Senate to defeat the bills, the UUP also urged citizens to contact their state senator to express their disapproval before the vote. 

Contents

• Chair's Note - The 3 Cs:  Character, Competence, Content
• End Straight-Party Voting
• An Agenda for Moderates
• Veto HB 220 - Toxic Waste
• Convention Plans
• The Sinking of Proposition 3
• How Do We Get Legislators to Pay Attention to Majority Will?
• A Case Study in Broken Governmental Accountability

Contents

• Chair's Note - "Process" Improvements Will Bring Good Policies
• End Straight-Party Voting
• Stiffening the Requirements for Citizen Initiatives
• New Volunteer Opportunities
• Convention Plans
• Changes to the United Utah Party Platform
• The Political Spectrum 

UNITED UTAH PARTY CALLS FOR AN END TO STRAIGHT PARTY VOTING
Utah one of only eight states that still that allows people to vote for a party, not people

A bill proposed by Rep. Patrice Arent that would eliminate straight-party ticket voting was recently assigned to the Government Operations Committee. The United Utah Party urged immediate action on the bill. 

"Utah is one of only eight states that still allows straight-party ticket voting,” said Richard Davis, the United Utah Party chair. "And next year, that number will be down to seven when Texas, one of the most Republican states in the country, gets rid of this outdated practice. It’s time for Utah to follow suit.”

Davis noted that straight-party voting has long been criticized by people of all political persuasions. 

“If you only vote for a party, you’re throwing your vote away in races where your party doesn’t have a candidate,” Davis said. “You also may be casting a vote for someone tainted by scandal that even your own party no longer supports.”

Davis promised that the UUP will continue to support efforts to end straight-party voting regardless of what happens with Rep. Arent’s bill. 

“43 other states have figured out this is a bad practice,” he said. "Utah should do the same.”

Contents

• Chair's Note - A Bright Future, if We Want It
• Education - Why I Joined United Utah
• Respect the Will of the People
• New Volunteer Opportunities
• Convention Plans

Teaching and coaching here in Utah has been a big part of my life for nearly 20 years. Education is the main reason I have become a member of the United Utah Party. I need to point out that I believe that there are a lot of people doing their best to make education in Utah work. Over all, we are doing a lot of great things for Utah students. However, there are a few things I find frustrating.

“If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands!”

(Scattered clapping)

“If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it, if you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.”

(Scattered clapping and mixed looks of disgust.)

(As if to himself…) “Oh, well. You can’t make everybody happy.”

Contents

• Chair's Note - We Are the Citizen Voice in the Legislature
• Success or Failure
• Sign Up for Our New United Utah Legislative Newsletter
• Convention Plans
• Why Is the Question Coke or Pepsi . . . ?

With the passage of SB96, the Utah Senate is hoping that Utah voters will swallow a lie. The lie is that they are actually trying to implement the Expansion of Medicaid that Utah voters required.

The truth is that they want to kill Medicaid expansion, but look like they tried to make it work. SB96 is set up so that Medicaid expansion will be repealed when the federal government refuses to pay 90% of Utah’s Medicaid costs. No other state has gotten a deal like that from the federal government.

As always, false pretenses require false explanations. In this case, Senate leadership is hiding behind “fiscal responsibility”. “It costs too much.” “We can’t afford it.” They hope nobody will notice that a proposed alternative bill (HB-210) is actually more fiscally sound, costs less, and covers more people than SB96. HB-210 is currently blocked from coming to a vote. The leadership of the Utah legislature could honor the will of the people if that’s what they wanted to do.

Senator Allen Christensen, the sponsor of SB96, and the rest of the legislative leadership, represent a hard line ideological position. They do not represent the people of Utah. Like other members of the Republican Senate leadership, they are accustomed to unchecked power and do not feel obligated to respect the voice of the people.

If you want a representative form of government, the current Republican leadership must be removed. The United Utah party is gearing up to challenge a Utah political establishment based on hard line ideology and the arrogance of unchecked power. We need your support.

This article was written by Jared Oates. This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily all members of the United Utah party. We highly encourage all citizens to continue to research this and other issues to arrive at personal conclusions. Civic engagement and diversity of opinions are fundamental to the United Utah Party's unique approach to politics.