Rep. Noel proposes hunting deer and bighorn sheep on Antelope Island

Posted on February 9, 2010 by Becky Stauffer

As a means of generating new revenue, Rep. Mike Noel has announced he will propose hunting permits for deer and bighorn sheep on Antelope Island State Park. The announcement came during a budget hearing of the Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee, This was the same meeting at which Senator Buttars made a controversial proposal to privatize state parks (h/t Glen Warchol, Salt Lake Crawler).

Earlier in the hearing, Noel commented on the losses experienced by state parks and wondered “are we ever going to make money on parks?”

Noel suggests that selling two tags each for deer and bighorn sheep will generate revenue of about $250 thousand for the state parks,

Well, the condition that we’re in right now with the funding and things, we could sure use the ongoing revenue of a coupla $150 thousand, may be even more, might even be as high as $500 thousand, some of these state-wide tags have sold for $200 thousand.

Utah Parks Superintendent Mary Tullius responded that in numerous public surveys, people have not supported hunting on the island except for biological reasons, such as overpopulation or disease. The bighorn herds were put out there as nursery herds. Recreational hunting was never an intent.

I just want to alert the committee as we make this tomorrow, I’m going to make a motion to do that, cause I think we could use the money and I don’t’ see any reason why we shouldn’t, we’ve already got bison being hunted out there

If we got two tags for deer and two for goats, we could bring in $300 thousand to 400 thousand a year, seems like a pretty good deal to me. And put at a time when there’s not a lot of people out there, a very controlled situation. Anyway, thank you very much, ‘preciate it.

I am not sure I understand how two tags can generate the kind of money Noel suggests. I checked Utah’s website for hunting Licenses, Permits and Fees. A license to hunt bison on Antelope Island goes for $1,105 for residents, and $1,513 for non-residents. I wasn’t able to determine how many licenses were granted in a year for this hunt.

I’ll admit I’m not a hunter, so maybe I don’t understand how many animals may be taken with one tag. Perhaps I’m not doing the math correctly, but I fail to see how offering two tags each of these animals on Antelope Island will produce even a small fraction of the amount stated by Noel.

Antelope Island is a unique and popular recreation area. Easily accessed from Antelope Drive in Davis County, It attracts large numbers of families, bicyclists, bird and animal enthusiasts, photographers, boaters, and just plain sight-seers. It’s hard to imagine, even if the revenue projections are correct, being able to conduct a hunt in a way that wouldn’t impact regular public use.

Audio of the hearing is available here: See the file for February 8, 2010, 2:00 pm.

Cross-posted at Davis County Democrats and at OneUtah.org

Filed under: Utah Legislature | Leave a Comment »

Utah Environmental Congress: Kill Bill, Not Wolves

Posted on February 9, 2010 by deesings

Kill Bill, Not Wolves

Last week the Utah Senate passed legislation that would require that wolves migrating into Utah be killed or relocated.

The bill now goes to the state House of Representatives and, if approved there, would require the approval of Governor Gary Herbert.

Our friends at WildEarth Guardians have set up a web site where you can email Governor Herbert.
Tell Governor Herbert to kill the bill, not Utah’s wolves.  Send your email letter today.

Utah Environmental Congress recognizes that wolves are important for healthy ecosystems.  Wolves are native to Utah and we want them back.
Utah is a critical link between the wolves that already exist in the Yellowstone region and other areas that still need wolves – like Colorado and the Southern Rockies.  Recently wolves have been reported near Grand Junction, Colorado.  If those reports are confirmed, wolves may migrate to Utah by traveling west along the Book Cliffs.  We may hear wolves howl in the Book Cliffs and Uinta Mountains sooner than we think, if they aren’t shot first!

Don’t let Utah become a deathtrap for wolves.

Speak out today for Utah’s wolves­ — send a letter to Governor Herbert by February 16th.

Thanks for being a voice for wolves.  If we don’t speak up for them, who will?

Filed under: Endangered species, Environment, Utah Legislature | Leave a Comment »

Citizen Involvement: Another opportunity

Posted on February 7, 2010 by deesings

Writing for Change: Civic Writing
SLCC Community Writing Center - 210 East 400 South on the Plaza, Suite 8 , Salt Lake City, 801-957-4992
Learn techniques for civic writing such as letters to editors & public officials. Come with a concern to write a letter!
Free!

Filed under: Citizen involvement | Leave a Comment »

UT Senate Pres Threatens LGBT Community

Posted on February 6, 2010 by ethingtoneric

UT Senate President Michael Waddoups

SLC – With the controversial “compromise” between the pro-human rights legislators and the extremist right-wing hanging in the balance, a closed-door meeting between leading Republican Senators ended with a slap in the face to Utah’s LGBT community.

Last week, Representative Christine Johnson and Senator Stephenson announced a joint bill saying that no pro or anti gay legislation would be run this year by either side, and a committee would be assigned to study the necessity of anti-discrimination laws over the coming year. Call it an olive branch to Utah’s ultra-conservative lawmakers, a way for them to finally recognize the suffering of their constituents while still saving face by claiming that they were unaware of the problems in Utah before the committee delivered their report.

But now, Republicans have denied even that. In an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune, Senate President Michael Waddoups announced that they would hold up their end of no anti gay legislation this session, but that he saw no need for a committee to look into anything this upcoming year. On top of that, he threatened the gay community against speaking up, saying any “offensive activities” would push the Republicans into drafting legislation against the LGBT community.

Um… excuse me?? The queer community in Utah is one of the most oppressed in the country, being one of the few states that does not even afford housing or workplace protections to its’ citizens. There’s barely a handful of supportive legislators on Capital Hill supporting their basic rights and he wants the gay community to shut up and fall in line? Their strategy is clear, Republicans are in essence buying themselves a free-pass for the year from the constant barrage of negative press for their dark-age views, while giving nothing in return.

Now, the LGBT community of Utah is rising and coming together again. Enough. We have had it with our state constantly spitting on us, of teaching our children that they have no human worth just because they’re born differently. We are thrown from our parents’ homes, shunned from our churches and communities, fired from our jobs, evicted from our homes, denied every possible right to our partners and now are told our suffering isn’t even worth taking a deeper look at.

Enough. We’re sick of being the whipping-boy for those law makers who care nothing that thousands of their constituents are being persecuted. Sit Down, Shut Up and Fall In Line? Never.

See more on Utah LGBT issues here.

Filed under: Citizen Reporting, Citizen Rights, Citizen involvement, Equality, Gay rights, Human rights, Legislators, Utah Legislature, constitution, resolutions | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Children are our future: Funding issues will impact that future

Posted on February 6, 2010 by deesings

Utahns for Public Schools takes a hard look at how tax cuts over the years have significantly impacted public school funding:

“The Utah Legislature has cut taxes by nearly $400 million during the last two years, including significant cuts and changes to the state income tax [remember income tax is dedicated to public education]…”      (from Fact Sheet: Changes to Utah’s Individual Income Tax)

”…the Governor, the Senate, the House of Representatives, and special interest groups [special interest groups????]…passed the largest tax cut in the history of Utah.” (A research report written by the Utah Tax Commission)

Research reports commissioned by Utahns for Public Schools find that systemic, if not systematic, changes have occurred in the past decade that, if reversed, would bring more than a $1 billion in revenue back into Public Education.

Over at Hey Deb Henry this point is made:

While education may look like a line item to the legislature, the external effects will echo through every other industry. There are already complaints that Utah’s population is unskilled — which makes businesses nervous when they’re trying to decide if they want to move to Utah.  Hiring unskilled workers puts a burden on businesses to provide that training, which dilutes their ability to add to the economy. Cutting education could lead to more people needing social services, having the opposite fiscal effect intended. I would rather my tax dollars go to educating someone now than paying for them to be in prison or on welfare/ unemployment for the rest of their lives.

With 11,000 more students projected for next school year, Utah’s classrooms will be severely impacted by the 12-15% cut (by virtue of no increase funding) that is anticipated from this year’s legislation, H.B. 1 Cutting taxes is not the answer to economic woes.

Filed under: Education, Public Education, Utah Legislature, budget | Leave a Comment »

Informed Consent: Really? (A bit of sarcasm if you will)

Posted on February 6, 2010 by deesings

H.B. 200 Informed Consent, which requires ultrasound images to be taken and then displayed to women seeking abortions, if they so choose [to see the images], has generated much controversy, as anything having to do with a woman’s right to choose does.  This bill made it through the Utah House last week.

An article in the Deseret News has yielded some interesting comments from readers:

This law is a fairly transparent attempt to reduce the number of abortions by counting on pregnant women to change their minds after seeing an ultrasound of their living fetus. Naturally there are two ways to look at this: the pro-life view is that if a woman is confronted with graphic images of the fetus she can’t otherwise see, she will make an emotional decision against the abortion. The pro-choice view is that this is the equivalent of a protester standing outside the clinic with graphic photos of aborted fetuses — in other words, intimidation. Both views have some validity, which is why abortion is such a difficult debate in the first place. How many women will “choose” to see these images, is hard to say; whether any medical providers will somehow “show” the images to a woman without being asked is also hard to predict. And so the tug of war over a highly personal issue, between two equally passionate factions, with vulnerable, pregnant women in the middle, goes on and on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Legislature, please show some compassion to victims of sexual violence. Imagine if it was your daughter, wife or sister who was attacked. Would you still thrust this upon her?

These women CAN’T sleep at night. That is why they make the painful choice to have an abortion. This is a bill of re-victimization. Even in the cases where the pregnancy was just unplanned, it is not the government’s right to interfere with the woman or her doctor’s decision.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What a complete WASTE of tax payers dollars and a HUGE WASTE of our State Legislatures time. We have so many other huge problems like our deficit and our unemployment crisis to fix. This bills only purpose is to try and make a woman change their mind as the congressman said in the article. To all Utah residents and to all the members of the Utah congress, abortion is LEGAL! Get used to it. I can’t wait to cast my vote this next election against any incumbent who voted in support of this. The abortion clinics should have the choice to support and install this in their facility, not be forced to. If this passes into law I hope the ACLU will fight this and get it overturned.

H.B. 200 does not provide complete disclosure to the woman seeking an abortion.  While this bill is aimed in reality at attempting to have women change their minds about abortion (even after long and often painful thought into the decision), there are no provisions whatsoever to provide financial support by the government if the woman changes her mind.  The “information” and “education” does not, for example, include the reality of the costs of raising a child; the emotional distress of giving the baby up for adoption and subsequently the legal rights of the birth mother to stay connected, or not, to the child; or parenting issues education.  [Tongue in cheek] If state legislators are intent on making it difficult for women to make their own choices through a bill that legislates moral values, they should include in such a bill the financial obligation and commitment to support  the woman and her child should she change her mind about having the abortion.  “Informed” consent?  Not really.

Filed under: Reproductive Rights, Utah Legislature | 5 Comments »

KRCL: RadioActive! Feb 2 Legislative Update 2010

Posted on February 6, 2010 by deesings

Three Utah bloggers are featured on this program with lively discussion about the Utah Legislative session.

Misty Fowler (Saintless),  Glen Brown (One Utah), and Curtis Haring (Blue in Red Zion)

Here them here:

KRCL: RadioActive! Feb 2 Legislative Update 2010 (2010-02-02).

Filed under: Citizen involvement, Utah Legislature | Leave a Comment »

Do We Really Need Daylight Savings Time?

Posted on February 4, 2010 by deesings

If one lawmaker has his way, Daylight Savings Time could be on its way out….of Utah, that is.

H.B. 288, Daylight Savings Time, proposes to exempt the state from observance of daylight saving time.

Quoted in a Deseret News Article, Rep. Kenneth Sumsion, R-American Fork says

“Over time, I’ve had so many constituents say they hate switching,” said Sumsion, who Wednesday introduced HB288.

There would still be 24 hours in the day. There would still be the same hours and minutes of daylight and darkness, depending on where the Earth is in its yearly trip around the sun.

“It’s a question of convenience and what we really want,” Sumsion said.

How would it be to not have to remember to “fall back” or “spring ahead”?

Filed under: Utah Legislature | 7 Comments »

Lawmakers claim global warming is “conspiracy”

Posted on February 4, 2010 by deesings

Utah must look really crazy to the world right now.  Members of  a House committee passed a non-binding resolution to keep federal global warming laws out of the state.

ksl.com has posted a piece on the action today:

KSL.com on Utah Legislature view on climate change

The committee plans to take the resolution to the full House for a vote.

There are also many conservative Republicans who strongly believe global warming is a conspiracy to do something that would harm Utah. The resolution reflects this theory with strong words and a strong message.

For example, it claims perpetrators of “Climategate” often “incorporate “tricks” related to global temperature data in order to produce a global warming outcome.” The end result is what the resolution calls a climate change “gravy train.”

Along with scientific evidence, one only needs to look at things like the Hardiness Zone Map to see the the changes in climate over a period of years. (Oh, but wait!  The Arbor Day Foundation are some of those “conspiracy theorists”!).

Global Warming is a very controversial issue with conservatives.  The denial of global warming comes from the fact that the extraction industry would be heavily taxed and the profits would no longer be realized.  The rich would become less rich and that just isn’t acceptable.

That’s the bottom line, and at the expense of our planet and all its life.

Filed under: Climate Change, Environment, Global Warming, Legislators, Utah Legislature | 3 Comments »

How the Insurance Industry “incarcerates” the purse strings of lawmakers

Posted on February 3, 2010 by deesings

It is no secret that medical care is inadequate for inmates.  Legislators have a history of not approving adequate funding for the care of those who are incarcerated.  So when a bill is proposed that would save taxpayers money and still allow for inmates to receive medical care (under the provisions of the bill), you would think that Legislators would be happy, right?

Wrong.  The insurance industry obviously has influence over legislators with this issue.

Yesterday the House shot down a bill that would permit inmates to use their private insurance to pay for their health care while incarcerated.

H.B. 22Inmate Health Insurance Amendments,would require the inmates’ private carrier to serve as the primary insurer while serving time in a state or county facility.

According to an article in the Deseret News,

House members voted against the bill, saying state taxpayers should pick up the cost, even if the inmate is insured.Opponents said during debate that the bill painted insurers as bad guys, when in fact the bad guys are the ones who broke laws that got them arrested and incarcerated. They also argued that the bill was anti-free market and smacked of government takeover of a private enterprise.

Interestingly, the article points out the amount of donations candidates received in the 2008 elections.

In the 2008 election, the insurance industry gave $313,311 to state-level candidates (including the Legislature, governor and attorney general), according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics.

Insurance companies gave the second-most of any industry that year, outdistanced only by the securities and investment industry, which gave $614,207, according to the institute.

And big insurance companies lose few political fights in the Utah Legislature.

The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, points out the cost savings to taxpayers with the passage of this bill.

The bill would save county jails more money than the state, with only a handful of felons in the state prison having outside health insurance. But a number of county jail inmates, who may be sentenced for several months up to a year, have insurance while incarcerated, Ray said.

“Taxpayers are getting hammered, and it’s time for insurance companies to step up and pay for what they’ve contracted for,” said Ray just before his bill was voted down on a 30-44 vote.

This is just one example of how lawmakers are “incarcerated” themselves by big corporations….and at the expense  of taxpayers and those in need of care.

Filed under: Human rights, Jail System, Legislators, Medical Care, Utah Legislature, health care, taxes | Leave a Comment »

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