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What is it with the Utah legislature this year?
Why are lawmakers moving to disrupt government's system of checks and balances in order to bring more authority to their body?
Such blatant power grabs should concern every citizen. For example:
-Some talk of repealing the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution so they, not voters, can determine how Utah is represented in the United States Senate.
-Some want to take away the governor's authority to block nuclear waste storage, so they can have the final say instead.
-Some want to force local governments to zone, tax and redevelop their way, thus undercutting those politicians who are closest to the people.
-And, to top it off, some apparently think the governor has too much say in the budgeting process and they want to reduce the impact of a potential gubernatorial veto.
Again, we ask why?
On the budgeting issue, it may be that a few overly sensitive lawmakers are miffed that a governor might have the audacity to challenge the wisdom of some of their fiscal decisions. In KSL's view, the history of the state suggests there is a need for an astute governor to rein in supercilious legislators more often than the other way around.
