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Sentinel News Staff Utah State 2010 Legislature Report
The main issue of the 2010 Legislature seems be to the state budget. Governor Herbert is requesting the budget be balanced by trimming expenses rather than by increasing taxes. Legislators are seeking in a multitude of ways to balance the budget by a combination of increasing taxes and trimming expenses.
Senator Alan Christensen is proposing an increase in taxes on tobacco products (SB0040). His reasoning is that the use of these products increases government expenses. The precedent in this law is that a given life style may be punished by levying a disproportionate tax burden. The further reasoning is that the cost of poor health life style is a burden of government. The argument against this legislation is that the government should not assume the cost of treatment for unhealthy lifestyle and should not abuse the power to tax for the purpose of punishing for an unhealthy life style. The precedent of this law could be to set no limits on control of lifestyle.
Representative Daxter is proposing an Agricultural Sustainability Act (HB102 substitute). This bill requires the counties to create a “Sustainability Investment Fund”. The provisions of this act would set in motion the purchasing by local government entities of development easements on private property. This would be a voluntary contract whereby the farmer would give up his right to develop the property beyond agricultural use for an agreed upon amount of money. The net result is that partial ownership of land would be transferred to the government entity and under the control of the local elected officials. Some legislators are asking if it is appropriate to use tax money for acquiring private land rights. |