A rational person would recognize the huge political error of a legislative body and "advisers" meeting to alter a bill that was approved by a majority of Utah voters only a month ago.
My concern is not the "marijuana bill" that received a majority of votes statewide on Nov. 6. I did not vote for the initiative. My concern is that Gov. Gary Herbert and the Legislature hastily called a special session to counter some of the provisions in that law immediately after it was approved by the voters as written.
If the law needed to be altered, it should have been tested, debated and then changed in a regular session of the Legislature. Our Legislature traditionally spends its initial weeks of annual session grandstanding and making power plays. It could have easily forgone that and opened this law for public debate and further scrutiny.
The people involved in this blatant disregard for the will of the voters have shown a disgusting side of politics that has become all too common: They have decided to regard a legal vote as a “suggestion” and get it out of the way before it comes to the attention of too many people.
Herbert and the Legislature have taken the power of the public vote away from the voters. This hastily called "special session" was a misplaced, clumsy assertion of raw and expensive power.
Now there is a lawsuit in the works, for which the voters will have to pay.
A majority vote is a majority vote and should be honored as the voice of the people. If a law needs alterations, that law should be tested and debated and testimony should be made in open, regular sessions. If the Legislature is “too busy” to handle items like this in the appointed time, we need to elect more efficient legislators. Maybe we could find some with more respect for the rights and principles on which our government is based.
Pat Mellor Jenkins, St. George
