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By Chris Herrod / 3/ 3, 2017 / Columnist at Utah Standard News

Million Fiscal Cliff Ahead

Once again, the consequences of bad legislation and the stubbornness of trying to fix bad legislation rather than just repeal it, can be found in Senator Bramble’s SB114 . . .  SB 114 attempts to solve the plurality problem (someone possibly winning a political party’s nomination without necessarily having a majority of the vote) by adding another round of voting after a primary if no one gets 35%.

Who is harmed by SB 114?

First, the taxpayers who must foot the bill! SB 114 has a $2.9 million fiscal note.  Yet, in this supposedly conservative state, Senators unanimously rushed to sign on to SB 114 no matter what the costs.  Our teachers could be paid $2.9 million more, our law enforcement officials could be paid $2.9 million more, or class sizes could be reduced $2.9 million more or, heaven forbid, our taxpayers could pay $2.9 million less.  While technically not a tax increase, bear in mind that when such wasteful spending is enacted, next time legislators raise taxes, they will raise taxes $2.9 million more than they would have without SB 114.

Who is favored by SB 114?

The rich, the elite, and incumbents because they can afford what amounts to a second primary . . . and I thought we just had a national election about getting rid of the establishment . . . yet in Utah, it’s just the opposite.   SB 54 has already been called the “Incumbent Protection Act.” SB 114 just double downs as the grassroots and those with less financial means are further disadvantaged.  SB 114 simply furthers Utah’s “Pay for Play” reputation.

There’s a perfectly good fix to the problem of plurality – just repeal SB 54 and go back to the way that we nominated such right-wing radical leaders 🙂 like Senator Hatch, Governor Leavitt, and Governor Herbert in the past,  but senator Bramble won’t have this.  He can’t admit that he was wrong or admit that he mislead the Republican State Central Committee when he said that the SB 54 was non-severable.  Had he spoken the truth, SB 54 would now be repealed because parts of SB 54 were already found unconstitutional and so all of SB 54 would have been thrown out.  Instead, Senator Bramble wants the taxpayer to shell out another $2.9 million to fix his mess.  Why legislators continue to bail him out, is beyond my comprehension.

If common sense can’t prevail, at least ask Mike Leavitt, Gail Miller, LaVarr Webb, Doug Wright, Senator Bramble and other Count-My-Vote supporters to do the honorable thing and step forward and pay for the cost . . . put their money where their mouths are rather than have the taxpayer pay for government policies that benefit their special interests.

-Chris Herrod

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