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 SB96 is set up so that Medicaid expansion will be repealed when the federal government refuses to pay 90% of Utah’s Medicaid costs.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.