Utahns for Ethical Government and the national nonpartisan group Citizens in Charge joined together on Utah's capitol steps Monday to condemn Utah's legislature and governor for seriously constraining Utah citizen's constitutional right to petition the government.
By signing SB275, Governor Gary Herbert gave every registered voter in Utah the ability to remove their signature from a petition more easily. He also gave special interest groups an extra month to convince you to do so.
Paul Jacobs, president of Virginia based Citizens in Charge said, "The citizens of Utah have a fundamental, constitutional right to propose reforms to government, and to have their reforms voted on, up or down, by the people." This legislation undercuts that fundamental right.
Another bill, HB112, could remove any time constraints on the Utah Supreme Court when deliberating the validity of initiatives and referendums. This would allow the court to delay any decision about a pending issue indefinitely. Governor Herbert has not signed this legislation, and has until Wednesday to do so. He may just let it become law automatically.
Petitioning the government is a laborious process, and has only happened twenty times in 114 years of statehood. It should not be taken lightly, and it should not be made impossible.
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Comments
This is wrong and for this, it will be one of my reason's not to vote for Herbert!
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