Rep. David Litvak, D-Salt Lake, said the claim that the bill puts government too far into people's lives makes legislators look like the the boy who cried wolf.

"We might not recognize a real threat when we see it," he said.

He said the committee got the clarification it was asked to get — that law enforcement has no position — "and the bill needs to be back were it was, on the House floor."

Despite assertions by committee members that the bill was sent to committee for further debate, sponsoring Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake, said that although he believes the rules were followed, "I believe they were followed to send this bill to a committee where it could be killed."

Mc Coy reiterated the point that lawmakers and Utahns have no problem with strapping a child into a car seat to help increase saftey in case an accident happens.

"We will cite people for not protecting a child from hypothetical, potential harm in an accident," he said. "When someone is actually, affirmatively doing harm to a child in your car, I would hope that we could be consistent in that regard."

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E-mail: jthalman@desnews.com