A summary of the events of the 2009 Utah Legislature General Session seems in order, as the session officially ended on March 12. While many people will tout the reformed liquor laws as evidence of advancement in Utah policy, it doesn’t take a very hard look to see just how far some new laws will erode the rights and freedoms of Utah citizens.

First case in point, SB216, which amends the regulations for the Military Installation Development Agency. This bill gives the MIDA the authority to dictate zoning not only for federal/military property, but also for up to 100 acres of land adjacent to it. The primary purpose of this act was to enable the United States Air Force to build a 5-star resort and full movie studio on federal —and adjoining — lands in Summit County without the approval of the county zoning authority. Apart from the fact that the Air Force has no justifiable reason to be building commercial developments, what is the state Legislature doing granting a military agency jurisdiction over county property? 

Next, the Common Ground Initiative: The Utah Legislature killed every single piece of legislation that sought to provide even the most basic of legal protections to “non-traditional” couples in Utah. Yes, this is Utah and those “non-traditional” (read: gay and lesbian) couples certainly don’t fit into the mainstream of Utah society, but they are still human beings and citizens of the state. These people deserve the protections of law and society granted to the rest of us.

Third, texting and driving: HB290 bans texting while driving. While the concept is a decent one to encourage drivers to act responsibly, the methodology here is completely insane. To ban texting while driving is, as was made famous during the presidential election, lipstick on a pig. Distracted driving kills people. That’s obvious. However, distracted driving falls into a multitude of categories: eating, shaving, applying makeup, talking on the phone, texting, dealing with unruly children in the back of the car, listening to the radio, reading, drinking (non-alcohol), and a few million other things that I’ve witnessed people do while driving. Isolating texting as a Class C misdemeanor is completely ridiculous, especially if the person doing the texting is still driving within the established rules of the road. If that person is causing traffic issues due to the texting, then they should be held accountable under existing traffic statutes. This type of singling out of one particular contributing factor is inherently wrong and potentially unconstitutional.

Finally, personal property rights: The Legislature saw fit to extend “protections” to gun owners by requiring that if a company bans weapons from their premises, that gun owner must either be provided with a separate area in which to park — and keep the gun in the car — or a secure locker within the building in which to store the weapon. While the gun lobby is probably ecstatic about this new “protection,” has anyone considered the rights of the property owner? If I own a business and I don’t want guns on my property, I should have the right to say no. Legislators disagree. The right of a person to store a gun in their car is more important than my right to determine what happens on my property.

Remember ladies and gentlemen, we voted for the people that are now trampling upon our rights.

Bob Henline is a Tooele resident and political activist. He can be reached at bob@nonpart.org.