Is Utah a one party state? In both 2010 and 2011 9 out of every 10 bills passed in the legislature were sponsored by the Republicans, while 23% of the legislators are Democrats. My son feels this is fair because Utah is 90% Republican. But I question that logic. Is Utah really 90 % Republican and is the voice of every voter in Utah really heard by the legislature and governor?
Salt Lake Tribune
According to the Salt Lake Tribune "The GOP as a group passed 68 percent of the bills that it introduced.
Democrats passed only 47 percent of their bills. House Democrats managed
to pass only 38 percent of their bills."
Democrats had more power than ever this legislative session as Republicans had difficulty agreeing on many issues, including immigration. The change in leadership in the house also created a divide in the House Republicans who were not completely united behind the new elected speaker as the votes were extremely close and Rep Craig Frank campaigned to help Lockhart get elected speaker and then lost his seat and voice in the house.
Republicans were also not united on a solution to Rep Craig Frank living outside his district due to a mapping error in an election office, consequently Democratic votes were needed to pass more bills in 2011 legislature than ever before.
No comments:
Post a Comment