Don Gale: Our male-dominated Legislature has made many bad decisions.
Onlookers fill the gallery of the House Chamber as the Utah Legislature voted to override Gov. Spencer Cox’s veto of HB11, which bars transgender girls from participating in school sports matching their gender identities, in Salt Lake City on Friday, March 25, 2022.Utah voters should elect more women to the Legislature and other government positions – not to achieve some sort of gender equality but because women would surely do a better job of serving the state and its citizens.
They passed veto-proof school voucher legislation by calling tax money shifted to private schools “scholarships.” In doing so, they ignored their own rules about how legislation should be published, debated and considered over time. Yes, lawmakers have an option to “suspend” the rules, as this group chose to do, but the option is generally considered an emergency option for use when needs are urgent and time is short.
Mostly male lawmakers also made it almost impossible for another referendum about vouchers or “scholarships” to take place. And, in a blatantly hypocritical maneuver, they tied the unpopular voucher legislation to much needed and widely supported pay increases for teachers. A couple of years ago, the mostly male Legislature ignored the voice of the people about how voting district boundaries should be determined.
The point is that it’s time for a change in the way Utah makes and enforces laws that govern citizen behavior. In the past, voters relied on political balance to moderate extremes. That appears to be out of the question among today’s narrow-minded office holders on capitol hill. In response, voters must vote for lawmakers who care about their constituents, who believe in democracy, who have compassion for youth, and who are well-informed about issues.has covered the Legislature long enough to remember when it was more balanced, when lawmakers talked to one another regardless of party, when they believed in compromise, and when they cared more about the state and its people than about selfish ideology.
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