PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 21, 2019
Salt Lake City, UT – Today, Alliance for a Better Utah sent a letter to Governor Herbert, requesting his veto on three bills that hurt the democratic process in Utah. The bills, S.B. 123, Election Process Amendments, H.B. 133, Initiative Amendments, and H.B. 145, Citizen Political Process Amendments, either make adjustments to the initiative process and implementation, or adjust the process for replacing a Congressperson if they take a position with the federal government.
“These bills chip away at the rights of everyday Utahns to have a say in their laws and who represents them,” said Chase Thomas, executive director of Alliance for a Better Utah. “This is the next step by the Utah Legislature to wrest more political control away from the people. We’re asking Governor Herbert to veto these bills for the sake of the people of Utah and for the sake of the democratic process.”
S.B. 123, sponsored by Senator McKay, would limit Utah voter participation in special elections to only a small number of party insiders to choose who will be filling a vacant seat. H.B. 133, sponsored by Representative Daw, alters the implementation date for voter-passed propositions: over a year for legislation that involves a tax increase, or 60 days after the next legislative session for propositions that do not involve a tax increase. H.B. 145, sponsored by Representative Thurston, requires volunteers to submit signature packets 30 days after beginning, and requires county clerks to post names of all ballot initiative signatories in a conspicuous location on the county website.
The letter can be found here.
The ABU Education Fund, Better Utah’s affiliated 501(c)(3) nonprofit, also sent a letter to Governor Herbert requesting he veto S.B. 236, State Board of Education Candidacy Amendments. That letter is the second page of the PDF in the prior link.
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Alliance for a Better Utah is a good government advocacy and watchdog organization based in Salt Lake City. The organization works to improve the lives of all Utahns by ensuring balance, transparency, and accountability in Utah politics, policy, and government. More information at www.betterutah.org.