Is the Utah Legislature listening?

Every legislative session begs the same question: Do legislators actually care what their constituents want? They display an appalling amount of hubris when proposing legislation, oftentimes with complete disregard for public demands.

For example, in 2007, Utah voters turned out in record numbers to overturn the ill-fated voucher bill HB148. It was a resounding defeat that saw every single county in the state vote against vouchers. What did the public get in return? An insurmountable obstacle to public ballot initiatives and a renewed effort by pro-voucher legislators.

Sen. Howard Stephenson, in particular, has been relentless in his attempts to circumvent the public's will with regard to public education. This year is no exception with his tuition tax credit bill. He does his best to call it anything other than a voucher bill — he prefers it be seen as parental empowerment — but call it what you will, his bill would incent donations to private school scholarships by giving tax credits to donors. Sounds voucher-like to me. His contention that it would allow low-performing students the opportunity to attend private school is a pipe dream.

Despite the potential financial remuneration, private schools would still require potential students to adhere to their standards for admission. It is an irrational expectation that private schools will fling open their doors and suspend their academic benchmarks, and given the residual cost of private school attendance, it is even less realistic to anticipate that lower-performing scholarship students would fully benefit from and participate in a private school education.

In a classic sense of starving the beast, the sad reality is that Stephenson is systematically trying to underfund and incapacitate public education, despite the wishes of the majority of Utahns. With an overall education ranking of 42nd and per-pupil funding at 50th in the nation, Utah can't afford not to increase funds and find additional funding sources for public education. While there are certainly areas in which the education system could be improved (just like any other public program), we can't just throw the baby out with the proverbial bath water because Stephenson says so.

Another example of legislative arrogance and intransigence is the refusal to approve a statewide non-discrimination ordinance. Sen. Ben McAdams proposed the legislation with the support of the LDS Church, Utah's business community and most importantly, the people of Utah. Yet, unsurprisingly, the bill was tabled in committee by a 4-2 vote and, for the fifth year in a row, left to languish.