Thursday, December 20, 2012

Salt Lake Tribune: Congress Votes to Scrap Hatch Act Restrictions - Updated

And no, Gentle Readers... Congress (unfortunately) DID NOT vote to "scrap" Utah Senator-For-Life  Orrin Hatch

Good news for politically ambitious state and local public servants this morning, as the Salt Lake Tribune reports that "Congress gave its final approval to a bill Wednesday that would allow local officials who oversee some federal funds to run for public office, legislation that is in part based on the ouster of former Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner":
This action comes too late of course to save Chief Greiner's political neck; but looking down the road, this common sense congressional legislative tweak will no doubt eliminate much of the silliness which has unnecessarily sullied the political dialogue in recent local Utah election races.

"The new law maintains the prohibition on federal employees running for office but won’t stop people who work in other organizations that receive federal grants for running for partisan offices," according to this morning's Matt Canham story.

And no, Gentle Readers... Congress unfortuntely DID NOT vote to "scrap" Utah Senator-For-Life Orrin Hatch, which probably wouldn't have been a half-bad idea however, now that we think about it.

Update 12/21/12 9:00 a.m.: This morning's Stamdard-Examiner carries the story too:
The only remaining loose end?  The president's signature.

3 comments:

Your Political Conscience said...

 And no, Gentle Readers... Congress DID NOT vote to "scrap" Utah Senator-For-Life Orrin Hatch, which probably wouldn't have been a half-bad idea however, now that we think about it.Definitely a missed congressional opportunity

Wondering? said...

How would this effect such things as a gov't worker displaying a political lawn sign or attending a rally for a political cause?  

blackrulon said...

No change. They could do both of those activities before.

Post a Comment

© 2005 - 2014 Weber County Forum™ -- All Rights Reserved