Tearing pages out of the Utah Constitution on the Senate floor? That’s what Senator Chris Buttars (R-West Jordan), did to illustrate how the bill to approve Utah’s acceptance of the federal gift of funds for education shreds the Legislature’s constitutional responsibilities (“Utah lawmakers fail Constitution 101, Tribune Nov 19). I would expect this type of behavior from a spoiled 4 year old, but not from a distinguished Senator in the elevated state of Utah!
I wrote that letter, and I am very proud of it. The “argument” Senator Buttars and other republicans in the Utah Legislature gave was that this federal money came with strings attached; and they are correct, one string was attached. The string is, the money HAS to be used for education, it can not be diverted to other uses, nor can these funds be used to replace state funds currently allocated to education. (This same “string” applied to all states that applied for the funds.)
Senator Buttars and his colleagues in the Utah Senate claimed that this action, placing the money into the education system without our legislature’s ability to control it’s diversion, “destroyed” Utah’s sovereignty over education in the state. However, the Utah Constitution provides that no action may be taken by the State Legislature that runs contrary to any law passed by the Federal government.
For more information on this issue, please see my post on September 15 “Confusion at the State Capital.”
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