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Lawrence Siebers from Voices for Moderation sent this report on the group’s last meeting:
Representatives Kory Holdaway and Susan Lawrence provided us with a real treat on Nov. 17. They were knowledgeable, articulate, and candid in sharing their views and insights about the upcoming 2005 legislative session. Those who are generally cynical about politicians would have been pleasantly surprised by the thoughtfulness and wisdom of these two legislators.
Both speakers indicated that they were pleased that there was such a group as Voice for Moderation. Susan Lawrence said she thought that most Republicans were moderate but the far right has been very aggressive and organized in pushing its views. We were encouraged to do more to make our voices heard and to provide support to the more moderate legislators. An e-mail from a constituent means more to a legislator than a general mailing from a special interest group. The message is, we need to be individually involved if we are to have influence. Voice for Moderation meetings can help provide for more informed views but each of us has to individually express our views to our legislator or government official. As a group we will take this insight into account in planning our actions for the coming year.
New Leadership
Representatives Holdaway and Lawrence felt that the new leadership in both the House and the Senate would be more moderate than the previous leadership. However, they were also concerned that only one of the new leaders, Greg Curtis, represented Salt Lake County Utah County clearly increased its leadership clout. We briefly reviewed each of the changes in the membership of the the new House and Senate. There seems to be a gain in moderates or, at least, a gain in those who would be open to a more moderate stance on some key issues.
Discussion Topics
We spent most of our time discussing the following issues:
1. Tuition Tax Credits - Holdaway and Lawrence were sure that some kind of bill on tuition tax credit would pass next year. This is further enforced by the recently published report by Utah State University that forecast a cost savings through tuition tax credit and the incoming governor's support for such a plan. Interestingly, every other state that has promoted tuition tax credit has done so on the basis of choice rather than cost savings. Every state that has adopted tuition tax credit has seen its educational costs increase. These states have also had a number of horror stories ranging from fraud to a lack of accountability to pedofiles running new schools. We are going to compile a list of problems encountered by these other states and make it available to the legislators. Hopefully, we can at least avoid these problems in any Utah legislation.
2. Transportation Funding - There is a real need to improve the transportation infrastructure in the State but it comes with a high price tag. There will be strong competition between education and transportation for funding. There will also be strong competition for setting priorities for the many transportation projects proposed.
3. Parental Rights - The so-called Parker Jensen legislation will again appear. The proposed bill applies a standard of "beyond reasonable doubt" upon the Department of Child and Family Services when determining child abuse. This is the same standard as required for the death penalty. The practical effect is that a child will probably have to be seriously injured or killed before the standard could be met for trying to remove a child from an abusive situation. It also says that in medical issues, parents could choose alternative care over standard medical practice. However, it fails to define alternative care. Presumably a neighbor or even a witch doctor could provide such care.
4. "Any Willing Provider" - This bill would mandate that health care plans would have to cover the fees of any health care provider of a patient's choice and not just those of the plans panel of heath care providers. If this bill is passed, it would significantly increase health care costs and eliminate the whole concept of managed health care.
5. Increased Revenue - The State's anticipated revenue is above original forecasts. This will mean increased money available but also more demands for new programs and expenditures. The discipline brought about by the tight money situation of recent years could be eroded with more money to spend. Several illustrations of new demands that become entitlements were described.
The Gloomy Weekend
OK, OK, I didn’t allow THAT GAME to entirely ruin my weekend, even though I now owe Tommy Love ten bucks. (He gave me the spread and I still lost.) I’m not obsessed. But please indulge me, just for a second, to represent the hundreds of thousands of sore losers out there and spew forth some sour grapes. First, I hope Utah gets slaughtered in whichever bowl game it ends up in. Second, I still think Urban Meyer demonstrates immaturity and lack of class by refusing the say the name of the rival to the south. I know he wants to be like LaVell Edwards, but he has a long ways to go.
Old bad joke recirculated by Bart Barker:
The judge asked the boy whether he preferred living with his mom or his dad after the divorce. “I don’t want to live with my mom; she beats me,” the boy said. The judge asked, “How about your dad?” “No, he beats me, too.” “Well, you have to live with someone,” the judge said. “Who do you want to live with?” The boy responded, “I want to live with BYU. They don’t beat anybody.”
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