2 bills dupe Utah's taxpayers, minorities

Data Collection Part II: "Duping Utah's Taxpayers And Minorities." It's more data collection that will never see the light of day. And, if it weren't so costly to the taxpayers and a disservice to minorities, it would be laughable.

The two data collection bills, HB236 on women and minority business and HB104, which establishes the "Commission on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice System" on minorities, are token gestures that do little but give the appearance of helping minorities. They are a waste of taxpayers' money that does nothing but fatten bureaucracies even more.

HB236 is an example of how bureaucracies get mired in red tape. It calls for the Commerce Department to print a form where individuals can "voluntarily" identify their race/ethnicity or gender — but for what purpose? Is it to give preferential treatment? I can't imagine any state politician supporting anything that sounds like quotas. If filling out the form is voluntary, then how useful is the information? It's a $50,000 paper chase that will allow the department to print the forms, collect the data and yes, store it. And nothing will happen, but it will allow those advocates of the bill to later claim they did something for minorities.

HB104 establishes the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice System to recommend and coordinate efforts to advance racial fairness within the criminal justice system. Whoa! Do we really need another commission on top of another commission that is already established to do the same thing? This is not just another piece of "feel good" legislation. This one is going to cost taxpayers big money — $122,000.

The Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice (CCJJ) is already responsible for overseeing and coordinating the efforts within the criminal and juvenile justice system. It even includes some of the same members as in HB104. Furthermore, since it receives millions of dollars from the U.S. Department of Justice to fund local programs pertaining to adult and juvenile crime, it is responsible for making sure all law enforcement grantees comply with federal civil rights laws. This includes Title VI that prohibits discrimination against minorities, the very same issue HB104 is supposed to monitor. It covers prisons, jails, juvenile programs, lock-ups, state and local law enforcement agencies and courts. In addition, CCJJ has already conducted studies on racial disparities in the juvenile system and racial profiling by law enforcement agencies. So, we don't need more data or studies. How about implementing the findings of completed studies?