Tag: Utah

State

Huntsman for Senate (2012)

Post author By David
Post date November 6, 2008
16 Comments on Huntsman for Senate (2012)

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After receiving more than 75% of the vote on Tuesday Huntsman has to be considered the person most able to oust Orrin Hatch when he comes up for re-election.

Huntsman said he hopes he can build "coalitions" with willing legislators from both political parties to achieve what he believes must be done. "Not running again (for governor) means no political game-playing — but doing what is right for all Utahns," he said.

The fact that he has promised not to seek a third term (and reiterated that promise) combined with the fact that McCain is not going to the White House means that he will be looking for something to do when this term expires. I’d love to see another popular Republican who would take on Hatch to refresh our senate representation with a Utahn (Hatch can barely find Utah on a map – his politics are all Washington).

Now we just need someone to run against Sen. Bennett in 2010. Perhaps Steve Urquart could do that now that he won’t have to worry about his own re-election in 2010.

Tags 2010, 2012, Bob Bennett, elections, Orrin Hatch, senate, Utah

Local State

District 20 Candidate Responses

Post author By David
Post date October 28, 2008
4 Comments on District 20 Candidate Responses

In response to the questions that I sent to the candidates for House District 20 I received a written response from Kyle Roberts, an invitation to call Becky Edwards, and no response from Robert Moultrie despite multiple requests. I will post the answers I received below with the caveat that the responses from Becky are the best notes I could take from our conversation and not necessarily the verbatim responses she gave.

1. In your opinion, what is the most important job of a state legislator?

Kyle: The most important job of a state legislator is to make sure that my constituents know how each law will effect them. Communication needs to be more important than what it has been in the past. I hope to accomplish this via my website and blog to which people can subscribe to receive updates.
Becky: To advocate for the people in their district.

2. What is the most important challenge or issue for the state of Utah?

Kyle: Tackling the budget. Surprisingly, it was only a couple of years ago that we had a surplus. And now we are facing a deficit. We need to trim off the excess and make sure our fundamental programs are properly funded: public education, some type of health care reform, and transportation are my top three.
Becky: The economy, job growth, and the cost of health care (all relate to each other).

3. What is the most important challenge or issue for House District 20?

Kyle: Public education is extremely important – especially when our district is growing so fast. We need to make sure that we have good schools, teachers, and administrators to be able to meet this new demand. But we also need to make sure that we have legislators who understand our community’s dynamics to fight for our right on the hill.
Becky: Not many challenges unique to our district apart from the state: public education, economic growth, and health care costs.

4. Based on the best information you have, what ideas do you have to tackle the important issue(s) you identified in questions 2 and 3?

Kyle: As I walked throughout the communities this month, I have been talking mainly about balance. I think that if we have more balance in the government, we would not have only two people creating the budget every year. But rather we would have the entire legislature define what money goes where. More discussion, more debate. The people who lose when that does not happen are the citizens of Utah. We need to have that. For public education, we need to just put that as a priority. Public education does not necessarily need more money. Public education needs to be run better. The legislature needs to keep out of micromanaging public education. We have qualified school board members across the state to do that job. We need to give more power to the school boards to make decisions that are best for them.
Becky:
- Education: depoliticize public education, build excellence by offering choice and accountability (e.g charter schools), and cut waste.
- Health care: cut waste – health care it is not a right but it is a part of social and economic infrastructure (like roads) – it is most appropriately addressed at the federal level.
- Economic growth: mostly a county issue but state tax structure can assist in encouraging growth.

5. What is the most important political task for voters to undertake?

Kyle: To be informed. Take the time to understand all of the issues. Vote on each candidate who represents your values, principles, and ideals. Be responsible in your vote.
Becky: Stay involved. Becky indicated that she would like to hold town meetings within the district (at various locations) to discuss and brainstorm regarding the issues that the district and the legislature are dealing with. She does not claim to have all the answers but she is willing to work hard and tap the resources of the district to be an informed representative. She would also like to reach out to voters similar to the way that Rep. Neuenschwander did with his email list.

I would like to thank both Becky and Kyle for their candor and for taking the time to respond.

Tags 2008, Anything but Neutral, candidates, House 20, Utah

National State

Smallitics

Let me just start out by saying that I have no problem with Randy Horiuchi running for re-election, nor with his campaign slogan that "He’s got game." That being said, the image of him in hockey gear with the caption "He’s got game (for hockey moms)" has left me with an itch that I just have to scratch.

This struck me as politics at its most senseless (like most of the presidential campaign so far). I see only three possible reasons why he would need to specify hockey moms in his ad:

He’s secretly running for the vice presidency.
The nation’s most famous Hockey Mom is secretly running for Salt Lake County Council.
Hockey moms are an influential constituency in Salt Lake County politics.

Could someone please help me know which of these is the case (or if there is another reason that I have missed)?

Tags media, Sarah Palin, Utah

State

Climbing the Mountain

A week ago Scott posted a 1500 word analysis of the mountain I have invited others to climb with me. As usual, he provided many useful insights that should help us to navigate this climb successfully. After having a week to begin to digest his analysis I am finally ready to begin to address some of the issues he raised. Before I do so I would like to make it clear that I never believed that this would be a simple undertaking and I hope that nobody else thinks so either.

Scott begins his analysis by addressing the question of what causes voter apathy. I saw 3 factors in his analysis that contribute to higher voter apathy in Utah: age – the propensity for people under 25 to generally not be active in politics combined with Utah having a higher percentage of younger voters among our population; a consistent supermajority – incentive goes down whether there is no hope of winning or virtually no chance of losing; and lack of adequate information. There is little we can do about age except to reach out to young people and encourage them to be informed and involved. (It was the questions of my teenage neice that finally pushed me into taking some action.) The consistent supermajority in this state makes it so that I am more inclined to vote for Democratic candidates than Republican candidates. I will only vote for candidates I can support based on their positions and qualifications, but if both parties offer such a candidate I will go with the Democrat every time. The lack of adequate information is what this group is most directly hoping to address which is why it cannot afford to be limited to a website and a blog-cloud. We need to do things that will catch the attention of all citizens whether they use the internet actively or not. The information that we provide must be information from candidates for voter consumption as well as information from voters for use by candidates and elected officials.

Scott also identifies the obstacles we face such as lack of time in our busy world and the challenges of organizing diverse people. Scott points out the potential for duplicating the efforts of other groups such as Project Vote Smart (PVS) and The League of Women Voters. These are very real issues to consider. My goal has been to minimize the demands that we make of those who participate and find ways to get maximum benefit from those things we do ask of them. A good example of such an approach is Downsize D.C. which has made it very easy for people to participate in politics by providing information on the subjects they are trying to address and allowing people to write to their senators and representatives with one link. (Click the link, add your personal comments and click "Send" to deliver messages to all your legislative leaders at once.) By working in tandem with existing groups such as those listed above we can have a greater impact in our initial efforts. One difference I see between what I hope to accomplish and what PVS is trying to do is that I want to focus on our one small state. I believe that the nationwide efforts of PVS help to perpetuate the top first mentality that is a root of many of our problems. I would encourage anyone who is so inclined to support and assist the efforts of PVS but their focus should not be confused with what I hope to develop.

Anything But Neutral should focus on gathering information from candidates here in Utah and sharing that information as widely as possible As much as possible, let the candidates speak for themselves and encourage them to speak about issues rather than getting too focused on parties, associations, and opponent bashing that pervade national politics. This is why I called for people to ask questions of the candidates locally and post their answers before election day. I know we’re pretty late this cycle, but hopefully we can do something now just to get some momentum before we enter the post-election burnout period. After election day I will quickly share my ideas of how we can make a difference in our political process between elections – hopefully without burdening our already busy lives too heavily.

I wholeheartedly agree with Scott’s conclusion:

I encourage others to get involved and help in this effort. But let’s not delude ourselves. We are fighting against significant disincentives to political involvement. Simply providing information and discussion isn’t going to overcome that.

Tags Anything but Neutral, candidates, connections, elections, Utah, voting

State

Rejecting Amendment E

While amendment D looks to close a loophole in the Constitution, Constitutional Amendment E appears to be opening a loophole. I admit that there is potential to increase the funds available for public education if we allow some of those funds to be invested in private company stocks or bonds. The problem is that this amendment provides no guidelines or safeguards to such a practice and therefore the only guarantee that we have from this amendment is that we increase the risk attached to the funds available for public education.

If the legislature wants to take public money and make use of stocks and bonds to increase the value of our tax revenues I could be pursuaded to accept that, but they had better put some safeguards on the ways our public funds are invested in the Constitution, rather than relying on future statutes to define any protective measures – the original prohibition serves to safeguard public money, when making such a large exception we should be sure that there are some limitations in place.

Tags 2008, amendments, ballot initiatives, elections, State Constitution, Utah

State

Supporting Amendment D

With the insertion of only 12 words Constitutional Amendment D would close a technicality which could be used by some enterprising politicians to wreak havoc on the necessary and often too-political process of redistricting. Now is a good time to do it too because, while redistricting is usually little more than adjusting existing district boundaries, our next redistricting will include the creation of a new district (barring some major surprises). Without this amendment, redistricting could be declared invalid if a special session became necessary on a different subject between the time of the census and the next general session. Also, it could be challenged in the event of the U.S. Census Bureau taking longer than expected to process the census results.

This amendment helps to protect the state from adding any more political maneuvering in this important and often partisan process.

Tags 2008, amendments, ballot initiatives, elections, State Constitution, Utah

State

Rejecting Amendment C

My position on Constitutional Amendment C is much like my position on Amendment A – it is unnecessary tinkering with the constitution. I don’t see any advantage to starting the session a week later than we do currently.

I don’t buy his argument that citizens would "more appropriately honor the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President George Washington, and President Abraham Lincoln" if the legislature were not in session on those two holidays.

I also expect that budget negotiations function just like any other project – they will fill every bit of time available no matter how much time we allow. Giving them an extra 8 days after the final tax revenue amounts are available will only mean that the Legislators will feel rushed in considering the budget adjustments for 22 days instead of feeling rushed about the final numbers for 14 days.

Finally, if the session were set for the first week of January I might see an advantage to moving the session back a week, but starting the third week does not seem any worse than starting the fourth week. I understand the arguments given by Sen. Valentine in favor of the time change but, like the budget adjustments, the draft legislation, budget analysis, and other technical work will fill whatever time is allotted. If our legislature needs more time they could try not considering 5 minor Constitutional amendments in a single session. (How much time was spent crafting, holding hearings, debating, and voting on those?)

Tags 2008, amendments, ballot initiatives, elections, State Constitution, Utah

State

Supporting Amendment B

I was pleased to find that Constitutional Amendment B was absolutely as straightforward in its proposed wording as the description suggested. It simply inserts one line into the Constitution allowing for more flexibility in adding funds to the existing state trust fund without making it easier for the Legislature to remove money from the fund. Believing that the fund is a positive tool funding our government services I am happy to support a no-nonsense change that can make it easier to augment the trust fund when resources are avaiable to do so.

At first I worried that making it easier to add to the trust fund would encourage the Legislature to keep surpluses of revenue, but then I realized that 1) they already do keep portions of any surplus fund one-time contributions to pet projects, and 2) they still have the same incentive to give tax-refunds when possible to fuel their re-election popularity. The difference now is that they have the option when there are surplusses to put some of the surplus in the trust fund so that it can increase funding for services in perpetuity rather than being limited to large, one-time gifts to specific projects.

Tags 2008, amendments, ballot initiatives, State Constitution, Utah

meta State

Rejecting Amendment A

Let me start off by saying that Constitutional Amendment A does not have anything sinister or devious in it. In fact, there is very little in it to raise objections about. My primary objection is rooted in my position on constitutionally based governments in which I prefer to reject any amendment to the established law unless I see good reason for the change – in other words, I default to opposition where constitutional amendments are concerned.

This amendment would clarify the specifics of succession in the office of Governor and Lieutenant Governor. The specifics themselves are fairly mundane, but the situation being addressed is one that hopefully and probably will never occur. (Davis Didjeridu reminds me that a vacancy can happen for less than tragic reasons – such as federal appointment – making this situation more common than I had been thinking.) In the event that one of those vacancies did occur, common sense should allow the succession to happen seamlessly even without these specified specifics being added to the State Constitution.

There is one place where I have a specific objection to the amendment. In the section dealing with the succession of the Lieutenant Governor, it specifies that the Governor must receive the consent of the Senate for the person they would appoint to fill the vacancy. This appears to violate the separation of powers considering that the Governor, when running for office, needs no consent from the Senate when picking a running mate. I see no reason that selecting a replacement should have tighter safeguards than the original selection.

In summary, there is little to recommend this change, and more to discourage it. I won’t be overly concerned if it does pass, but I believe that not making such a change is the better choice.

Tags 2008, amendments, ballot initiatives, elections, State Constitution, Utah

National State

Politics Goes Local

The Senate passed the bailout bill (that they had no business voting on) and with an added 315 pages of pork they might be exposing the real reason that the House did not pass it on Monday. All that extra sugar coating is likely to make the bitter pill go down easier. This reminds me why watching Washington politics is so depressing.

On a happier note, I met with Kyle Roberts last night and really enjoyed getting to know him better. I look forward to helping him to become my representative in the Utah Legislature.

I’m sure I will have some things to rant about on the national level, but I am going to focus on state and local issues for a while (like the proposed amendments to the Utah Constitution) and quit paying attention – as much as possible – to the coming Obama administration and the continued shenanigans that will remain rampant inside the beltway.

Tags bailout, civic participation, House 20, Utah