June 2007
NCSL just reported…
NCSL (National Conference of State Legislatures) has just announced the legislator participation statistics for the NCSL Legislators Back to School Program. Shelley Day, our state coordinator, says, “Utah ranked #2 in the nation for the 2006-2007 school year. We’re still in the TOP 3, five years running. (Last year we were on top!) Here are the top five for this year:
Massachusetts 100%
Utah 80%
Hawaii 51%
Nebraska 51%
Arizona 50%
Congratulations to Shelley Day in the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel who coordinates the program for the Utah Legislature. Congratulations, also, to Utah’s legislators who participated in the program.
Sponsored by the National Conference of State Legislatures, the program is designed to teach young people, the nation’s future voters and leaders, what it’s like to be a state legislator: the processes, the pressures, the debate, and negotiation and compromise that are the very fabric of representative democracy. The program is emphasized as a bipartisan event. Legislators of both political parties are urged to participate in this national event and help bring civics to life for young people.
What’s Best for Public Ed?
By Senator Mike Dmitrich
Senate Minority Leader
Senate District 27
Due to the recent Utah Supreme Court ruling regarding HB148–Education Vouchers (subject of the referendum vote in November), the public will have a straight up or down vote on a universal voucher program for the state of Utah. The Court ruled that a second bill, HB174, Education Voucher Amendments, is inadequate for enacting a voucher program on its own.
On behalf of the Utah Senate Democrats, I applaud the efforts of many groups and individuals for their professional conduct in exercising their constitutional right to bring this issue before the people. We express our thanks to the UEA, PTA, Utahns for Public Schools, the Utah State Board of Education (chaired by Kim Burningham), the Utah State Office of Education attorneys, the 131,000 signers of the petition, and all others who worked tirelessly to arrive at this juncture.
We also thank all of Utah’s public education employees and volunteers who daily contribute to the success of Utah’s public education system.
As posted previously on our blog, the Senate and House Democrats oppose vouchers. Prior to the Supreme Court ruling, House Minority Leader Ralph Becker and I wrote two letters to Governor Huntsman asking him to call a special session to resolve the confusion created by this phenomenon of circumstances. The Supreme Court ruling has now eliminated the need for a special session, and obviously, we hope the voters overturn the voucher law passed by the Legislature.
Vouchers are not a “bureaucrat and liberal union” issue as has been cited by voucher proponents. Instead, the core issue is whether or not it is in the best interest of our public education system to subsidize private schools. In my opinion, the voucher law is blatantly unfair to Utah’s students, particularly those who reside in rural areas of the state.
The ballot language has been approved, along with arguments for and against vouchers, for publication in the Voter Information Pamphlet. I am very pleased with the argument against vouchers and believe it addresses all relevant concerns for the voters’ consideration. (Click “Read the rest of the entry” below for the complete argument against vouchers.)
Between now and November when the vote takes place, I urge the citizens of Utah to carefully consider the voucher issue and base their vote on a rational evaluation of the broader question: What course of action is best for the public education system in our state?
Doing Well
We reported earlier this year that Senator Ed Mayne is fighting lung cancer. (see prior posts: Health Update, He’s at the Capitol, He’s Up for the Battle, and What Happened To Senator Mayne’s Mane?) Another update on Senator Mayne is found in today’s Tribune article entitled “Survival is Senator’s New Cause” written by Tribune reporter Matt Canham. Pick up a paper or click the link above for the update on Senator Mayne. Included in the article are two terrific photos of this terrific state senator. In one of the photos, he’s catching up on his constituent e-mail and reviewing his schedule while receiving his chemo treatment.
Congrats to Senator Jones
As reported in yesterday’s Tribune, Senator Patricia Jones has been selected to serve on the board of the Utah Winter Games. Executive Director Heidi Hughes says Senator Jones’ background and experience will enhance the Games, it’s WinterFit Program, and the ongoing legacy of Salt Lake City as host of the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Senator Jones remarked, “The Utah Winter Games concentrates on healthy family activities. It’s a good fit for me.”
Congratulations to Senator Patricia Jones.
Youch! That’s Gotta Sting
by Senator Scott McCoy
Senate District Two
Well today the Utah Supreme Court added some clarity to the voucher mess. While it did say that the current ballot title penned by the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel will stay just the way it is (i.e., only referencing and analyzing HB 148) the Supreme Court unanimously rejected outright the Attorney General’s and voucher proponents’ legal contention that HB 174 stands alone as a voucher implementation bill. The Supreme Court essentially said that HB 148 and HB 174 are joined at the hip and that without HB 148, HB 174 is meaningless and unenforceable. (”If the voters choose to reject HB 148, HB 174 will not create an additional voucher program.”) So two important implications: 1) a rejection of HB 148 in the referendum will have the effect of also voiding HB 174; and 2) in the meantime until the referendum vote, the Board of Education doesn’t have to implement vouchers based solely on HB 174. Leave it to the Judiciary to maintain a clear head in a crisis.
The biggest loser in this chapter seems to be Attorney General Mark Shurtleff whose legal analysis (and political instincts??) appears to have been dead wrong. I guess Carol Lear and Jean Hill got it right. Instead of trying to fire them, maybe he should listen to them. Note to State Board of Education: Keep taking your counsel from your long-time attorneys and ignore the Big Bully. The Supremes have got their (and your) back. I have a hunch a majority of Utah voters will too.
The Irony of Passing the Voucher Buck (and a response to a little finger pointing)
by Senator Scott McCoy
Senate District Two
Well the voucher mess has now moved to the courts. Both sides have filed law suits to try and untangle the disaster that is HB 148 and HB 174. The Utah Supreme Court will hear arguments in the two cases this Friday. It will be great political and judicial theater for sure. What I truly love the most about the latest chapter in the voucher drama is the rich irony that we will be saved by the courts. How wonderful it is to see conservative legislators, such as Senator Bramble, who extol the supremacy of the Legislative Branch, throwing up their hands (after the requisite amount of public platitudes about the will of the people and sufficient wailing and gnashing of teeth) and pleading with the Judiciary to sort out this mess over which the impotent Legislature now seems to have no control (or responsibility). So the solution is not to have the political will and intestinal fortitude (i.e., leadership) to fix this mess of our own making but rather to put our fate in the hands of those five wise Justices, even if they are ever prone to judicial activism (i.e., decisions the conservatives don’t like). Talk about passing the buck.
Oh and by the way, the Senate Site recently suggested that all this is somehow the fault of the voucher opponents for picking a vehicle (i.e., a referendum rather than an initiative) that won’t take them where they want to go. Let’s not forget that the bad process that got us where we are today was 1) a poorly conceived original voucher bill and 2) a poorly conceived separate “clean up” bill. The voucher proponents got lucky and passed the poorly conceived HB 148 by one vote. When critics pointed out some real problems with the bill, the voucher proponents realized that the original bill did result in some bad public policy. It was their reaction in running the second poorly conceived bill that set this current unpleasantness in motion.