Daily Herald, March 15, 2011
Billy Hesterman

Utah County Democratic Party chairman Richard Davis says Utah's mostly Republican lawmakers missed out on funding public education, showed disrespect to the public by approving bills that limit public's involvement in government, and that lawmakers should have left immigration for the federal government to fix.

They did not provide a vision for education," said Davis. "I'm not sure they can do that."

While the Legislature was able to fund public education higher than the governor had requested and even allocated money for growth, Davis says the Legislature lacks a vision of a long-term plan to fund Utah's students. Davis went on to say public education can get lost in Republican lawmakers minds as they cater to, what he says, Republican delegates who mostly home school their children, or whose children attend charter schools.

"All the Legislature did was keep public education from falling further behind," he said.

The Utah County Democrat also didn't appreciate the "Grading Schools" bill that was passed. The bill will create a system that is modeled after a program in Florida that gives public schools a letter grade for their performance. It is designed to help parents better understand how their child's school is performing, but Florida's system is vastly different. Florida has a cap size on their classes, and provides funding to schools that get a lower grade to help them improve.

Davis also criticized the Legislature for passing bills that limit the public's access to government records and limiting the process of citizen initiatives.

"They were very disrespectful to the public," Davis said. "Republican legislators can follow the lead of the extreme right and cater to special interests without the public watching."

The Legislature passed a bill that would limit the public's access to voice mails, text messages, video chats and instant messages, and add increased fees to anyone in the public who requests a government record. Several Democrats also voted for the bill. Lawmakers also passed legislation that would not allow electronic signatures, which are allowed on most tax returns, to be used in signing a petition for a referendum.

The way Utah tackled immigration also received criticism from Davis. Davis argued that Utah stepped on the federal government's toes by trying to pass immigration issues.

"I don't think they should have dealt with it because it is a federal issue," Davis said. "I understand the frustration the states feel, but this is not the way to go."

Davis said he would have liked to have seen Utah's Legislature put more pressure on Congress to fix the issue and not pass laws that could end up being challenged for being unconstitutional.