From Deseret News archives:
Lawsuit against omnibus bill may surface soon
But some legislators say they were well within their bounds when passing the bill, which folded a dozen education bills into one, and that the practice is not uncommon.
"It appears to me to be grandstanding in an election year," said Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble, R-Provo.
Tuesday Sheryl Allen, R-Bountiful, told the Deseret News that she expects the lawsuit will surface in the next two to three weeks.
"There are rumblings, it is still under consideration," Allen said. "There are a number of people interested in it — it's just a potpourri of people ... a lot of private citizens are interested."
Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, says he's been told he and a number of other Republican incumbents who are being challenged from both within the GOP and by Democrats will be named in the suit, all aimed at hurting the incumbents' re-election bids.
The omnibus bill, SB2, rolled a dozen school bills, some of which had been voted down earlier in the session, into the schools' $2.5 million budget, the Minimum School Programs Act.
Two of the bills resurrected in the omnibus bill were one that budgeted $3.5 million to give software to families to prepare preschoolers for kindergarten, and another requiring school districts to kick in a portion of charter school funding.
Some lawmakers and other officials didn't like the idea of rolling a number of bills into one and questioned its constitutionality. Others took issue with reviving bills that had been voted down, while proponents say it's not uncommon for bills to be brought back to the table after failing to pass.
However, legislative leadership said comprehensive bills are common.
"To say that somehow this is unique or unprecedented or to say that this is the first time we have seen anything like this is clearly a misstatement; it is a misdirection," said Bramble.
He said in 2003 a similar education omnibus bill, SB154, was passed and signed into law and spanned issues from school choice to core curriculum to teacher licensing.
Also, SB245, a transportation bill, was passed and included different measures related to airports, highways and public transit.
The Utah Constitution prohibits "logrolling" unconnected bills into one unless they are bound by a single subject. The subject of SB2 was education, Bramble said.
"There is a real risk if they make the case on this bill then you would have to, under equal protection and consistent application, go back and look at every bill that passed this session, and you could be setting aside and negating important legislation, much of which benefits the education community," Bramble said.
Contributing: Bob Bernick Jr.
E-mail: terickson@desnews.com
