This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
I recently wrote about two bills that were killed in the Utah Senate because personal grudges trumped the worthiness of the legislation. One bill was to strengthen protections for the elderly and disabled under the care of appointed guardians. The other was a measure to help parents recognize suicidal tendencies in their children.
It gets worse.
Rep. Patrick Painter, R-Nephi, had a bill that clarified which personal property businesses could exempt from taxes. It passed the House 54-13 and was sailing along before being defeated 11-18 in the Senate on the second-to-last night of the session.
Why?
Painter has decided to run for the state Senate, challenging incumbent Sen. Ralph Okerlund, R-Monroe. That was an insult to the Senate clique. So Painter needed to be taught a lesson.
The next day, though, the House got even. A bill by Okerlund to expand the Children's Justice Center to three rural counties had passed the Senate 28-8 and was given a favorable recommendation by a House committee on an 8-0 vote.
But after Painter's bill got smashed in the Senate, Okerlund's bill died on a House voice vote.
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Missed opportunity • Another member of the House, Rep. Craig Frank, R-Pleasant Grove, is challenging an incumbent Republican senator, John Valentine, R-Orem.
But the Senate never had a chance to show its displeasure toward that disrespect. None of the three bills and one resolution Frank sponsored this year even made it through a House committee.
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Insubordination? • Even though the Utah Senate killed the bill to fight teen suicide, the State Office of Education is going ahead with efforts the bill would have required anyway.
The bill, HB420, was to require school districts to conduct an annual seminar for parents to help them recognize suicidal tendencies in their children. The bill passed the House but ran into problems when the Senate added a sex education requirement. That amendment received a number of derisive comments from House members about them having to learn about sex at their age. So the Senate killed the entire bill.
Since the bill failed, its sponsor, Rep. Steve Eliason, R-Sandy, got a call from State Schools Superintendent Larry Shumway, who said the state office would prepare suicide-prevention materials and send them to the school districts anyway. The districts could then voluntarily provide the seminars — without having to teach the parents about sex.
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An afterthought • The Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority has been sponsoring Spring College Night events at state universities and colleges for high school seniors and their parents.
The event at Weber State University, the closest for students living in Weber and Davis counties, was scheduled for the evening of March 13 — the night of the Democratic caucuses.
Surprise, surprise. There actually are some Democrats in Davis and Weber counties. And some complained.
No college-night event was held March 15, the night of the Republican caucuses. That would have really raised a ruckus.
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Speaking of scheduling conflicts • I wrote in a column the weekend before the neighborhood caucuses that the East Tooele LDS stake did not cancel its Boy Scouts meeting, leadership training or temple recommend interviews on March 13, the night of the Democratic caucuses.
But although those events were still listed on the stake's online calendar when my column ran, they were not held that night, because stake officials followed the advice of church leaders to cancel any meetings or events on the night of the Democratic and Republican caucuses.
So, good on ya, East Tooele LDS Stake.
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Speaking of events • The Utah Republican Party's Web site contains a schedule of events, featuring, for this month, the March calendar page. Each Republican event in the month — a county convention, Lincoln Day dinner, caucus meeting, etc. — is listed on the day it occurs.
The last week of the month is particularly busy. The Grand County convention is the 27th, the Piute County convention is the 28th, the Sevier County convention is the 30th, and listed in the box for the 31st is LDS General Conference.