Reader comments
Ethics debate heating up online

You have got to love the Utah GOP. The opinion polls state that 80-85% of Utahns favor the petition and their response is that it is a "plot by the democrats."

I have read Representative Fowlke’s and Senator Hillyard’s responses to the petition. They are long on opinion, but short on facts. Statements like "many constitution scholars believe" are not fact, but opinion. Nor do they ever say who these "experts" are. Reminds me a lot of the voucher debate.

If they are so concerned about the whether the petition violates the constitution why don’t they challenge it now. Why don’t they let the Utah Supreme court decide the issue now.

I believe that the GOP needs to take a long hard look at what the people want and not what they best for them. However, based on the voucher debate, not one legislator was defeated so they probably have nothing to worry about.

Utah has loose campaign and ethics laws. The legislators need to hear the will of the people and accept ethics reform now.

Some may think that this measure goes too far. That will remain to be seen. You still have to agree that the leadership of the House and Senate have been sitting on their hands on this issue way too long.

Lawmakers, the people want you to be more accountable for your actions. Get with the program. Your absolute inaction to solve many of the needs of our State that need true, thoughtful attention is not done because of the bottleneck caused by a handful of narrow-minded political hacks that make the rest of you look bad.

Remember, you are supposedly elected to serve the people and not to be self-serving, cause serving, or
lobbyist serving. A great number of you are good, right thinking folks who try to look at both sides of the issue with an open mind and try to solve the problems and issues of our State fairly and justly.
A smaller number of you use your position, (sometimes leadership) to buy off or just intimidate
the other members of your august body to vote your way. Shame on you for that. The people of the State of Utah deserve better. They really do!

If the GOP controlled Legislature would have done at least SOMETHING about ethics reform there wouldn't be this initiative proposal. Their arguing against it sounds a little to much like their justification for inaction. It sounds like they don't want open government or accountability.

The problem I have with this initiative is "GUILTY until You Prove Yourself Innocent. That is completely contrary to the constitution of the US. Also, this just adds another level of bureaucracy that tax payers are going to have to pay for. Against It.

You people are riediculous and revisionist. Vouchers did not defeat one legislator in 08. Thse who lost ran very poor campaigns and had other issues that were seperate from that issue. If you're going to write another story like this, don't be a "homer" for teacher's unions. Such anayliss is a joke and dishonest.

...is that it's not just ethics/campaign reform that is severely lacking. The real problem is much bigger.

The legislature has continuously "protected" itself from good government. It has exempted itself from the Open and Public Meetings Act, the state equivalent of the Freedom of Information Act, the Public Employees Ethics Act, and other state laws aimed at open government--not to mention creating one of the most restrictive referendum, or citizen initiative, laws in the country.

It's not about good government on the Hill--it's about power and how to keep it.

If it takes the people to change things, then I guess it will.

One has to wonder, however, if voting in some balance to the make-up of the legislature wouldn't be easier than ethics reform by initiative.

And this comes from a life-long Republican!

These politicians know that it is not ethical to
accept the perks they recieve, yet they keep saying "this and that" is keeping any legislation from being passed.
Reminds me of a teenager who should finish an assignment, but continues to make excuse after excuse and never finishes it.

Utah's government is a festering self serving corruptocracy.

is this a online mass debate?

if there wasn't a problem people would not be activated.

think about it; if utah legislators were viewed as being honest and trustworthy, and notably followed a general set of commonly accepted ethics rules, noone would be moved to begin an ethics initiative.

clearly, that's not the case.

the ueg initiative is unecessarily harsh, but if this is what it takes to wake up the state legislature, then so be it.

i will sign the petition.

Please, please, please sign the petition and enact this ethics initiative. I am a lawyer in Salt Lake and business has been really slow with the recession and all. Once this ethics initiative kicks in, me and and my lawyer friends will be as busy as beehive bees defending legislators on trumped up charges -- with all of our fees paid by taxpayers. Why didn't I think of this? Wow, I can hardly wait. Just sitting here with a smile on my face imagining how to spend all the money . . .

Section 36-27-501 (5): "Any such legislator who desires to retain counsel may select any attorney or law firm. The reasonable fees of any such attorney or law firm, including other costs of such representation, shall be paid out of funds allocated to the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel, and this payment shall be made whether or not the legislator is acquitted of the charges of misconduct."