February 15.2006 by Bob Van Velkinburgh
Dear Utah,
To paraphrase a Ronald Reagan quote, "There they go again!" Yes, the Utah Legislature under HB 100, sponsored by Representative Aaron Tilton,R-Springville is about to repeat the debacle created when they went ahead with the building of the Legacy Highway against the advice of their own lawyers and others. The Environalmentists, true to their word, went to the courts and tied up construction of Legacy for several years costing Utah taxpayers millions of dollars in litigation and construction costs. Also by acting irresponsively the state delayed construction of the highway by several years.
Now they want to do it all over again. I am reminded of the old adage, "only a fool makes the same mistake twice." The bill, if enacted, would require nonprofit groups that want the courts to temporarily halt a new project during appeals, to post a bond that covers any costs of delay, including wages, taxes and higher construction expenses or lose their state-granted right to do business in Utah.
Ignoring an in-depth analysis by their own attorneys that noted a number of "obviously constitutional issues" and also ignoring protests from sportsman's groups, environmental groups, and civic groups Representative Tilton dismissed the advice as, "just opinions."
HB 100 passed the House Tuesday 53-18 and now goes to the Senate for consideration. There it will be sponsored by Senator Curt Bramble, R-Provo.
This bill will not stand under litigation and will probably cost the state taxpayers millions if passed into law. That would set a new record for pure boneheadedness, arrogance and stupidity.
I am indebted to one of our CWC (concerned writers club) members for bringing this to my attention. Copied below is the member's e-mail. It is not too late to stop this bill in the Senate. Write your Senator and also fire off a letter to the editor.
Sincerely,
Bob Van Velkinburgh
dccwc@aol.com
Here's the most recent version (2-9-06) of an incredible piece of Utah State legislation worthy of widespread NATIONAL scrutiny (rebuke?). It seeks to impose a "bond" payment on plaintiffs in advance of filing court action under 30 different federal "environmental" laws. Failure to pay up in advance will result in action by the State of Utah to dissolve your "entity", company, or nonprofit group and render it permanently unauthorized to take any action or to even exist in the State of Utah. This twisted law, if enacted would actually have victims of environmental harm, or the risk thereof, paying the perpetrators of the harm for the time and trouble they would experience by having to stop their harmful acts! Here's the link to the bill in the State Legislature:
Here's the link to find your state Legislator:
Check it out, forward as you deem appropriate and feel free to call or write your Utah Legislator/Senator to let em know how you feel:
BW
No comments:
Post a Comment