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SALT LAKE CITY (KSL News/AP) -- Utah's Capitol Hill is packed with lawmakers today as they gather for day two of the 2006 legislative session.
The 45-day general session began yesterday, but the real work begins today.
On the agenda today: Smoking in clubs, sales tax on food, the fight over making government records public, parental consent for abortion and the debate over intelligent design, which some are calling "divine design."
The fight revolves over the teaching of evolution in schools. A bill this session, sponsored by Senator Chris Buttars, is an effort to ensure evolution is taught in schools only as a theory. But some see that as opening the door for so-called intelligent design to be taught.
Sen. Chris Buttars, (R) West Jordan: "They need to express after they talk about evolution in class that there is no consensus on the origin of life or how man became as he is today. This bill does not have any faith-based philosophies. All it's attempting to do is keep science, who get so annoyed when you challenge them, they say 'but we're scientists.' some how that means don't you dare question what we're doing."
Sen. Patrice Arent, (D) Murray: "We have elected school boards, we have curriculum specialists. I'm concerned, we should not be analyzing every theory to say what should be or not be taught. Are we going to do that with the economics textbooks. That is not the role of the legislature. Whether I agree with what's in the legislation or not."
It was a packed committee room today. After some heated debate on both sides Senate Bill 96 did pass out of committee on a 4-2 vote.
The Senate president has said there's GOP support for this bill.
Also today, a Senate commitee endorsed a bill which would ban smoking in Utah's bars and private clubs.
The effort to eliminate the sales tax on food made progress when a House tax committee gave the green light to a bill to help local governments make up for revenue lost by eliminating the sales tax on food
