From Deseret News archives:
Conflicts in 25% of bills
Some examples, with the conflicts of interest identified:
Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley, is president of the Utah AFL-CIO labor union. He unsuccessfully ran a bill to increase the minimum wage in Utah to $7 an hour (a major labor goal), and sponsored a bill passed to erase a provision that had stopped future payments for treatment of industrial accident injuries if the worker had filed no claims for treatment of the accident over three consecutive years.
Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake, is the only openly gay senator. He unsuccessfully sponsored a bill to amend sodomy laws to provide that certain sex acts involving consenting adults are not crimes. (The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled such laws unconstitutional, and McCoy wants to clean up Utah's sodomy statutes.)
Rep. Jon Greiner, R-Ogden, is the Ogden city police chief. He introduced, but failed to see pass, a bill requiring prison inmates eligible for parole to agree to be subject to searches or seizures for parole violation at any time with or without a search warrant.
Sen. Peter Knudson, R-Brigham City, is an orthodontist. He introduced and saw passed a bill to exempt orthodontic devices (such as retainers and braces), dentures, bridges and crowns from sales tax.
Rep. Lorie Fowlke, R-Orem, is an attorney who practices family law. Ten of the 12 bills she introduced were in that general area. One that passed created a mandatory divorce orientation course as an intermediate step before a divorce filing. One that failed would have amended conditions when a parent could petition to end joint custody of children with an ex-spouse.
Comments
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276 - TCU to play Boise in Fiesta Bowl
207 - BYU football: Bronco weighs in on Hall
195 - Palin signs books, chats with fans
169 - Utah/BYU rivalry can be more civil
151 - Cougars going back to Vegas
150 - Andersen apologizes for Jordan hoax
143 - Nude bathers cited for lewdness
137 - Max Hall wants to look ahead
130 - Jazz fall apart late at L.A.
110
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