2013 Utah Legislative Update: Key Things That Did Not Happen in the 2013 Legislative Session

Special congratulations and thanks to the many WCF readers who responded to our opposition rants and contacted their "legislative critters" to urge a thumbs-down on the citizen-unfriendly SB66

In our ever-obessive effort to wrap up our coverage of the now adjourned 2013 Utah General Legislative Session, we'll shine the WCF spotlight on this morning's standard-Examiner story, reporting on a hand-full of bills which didn't survive the legislative gauntlet, and "expired" without bein enacted into law, "Not all the big stories from the 2013 legislative session involving the Top of Utah involved legislation that passed. In many ways the session was also highlighted by what didn’t happen," reports the Standard's Antone Clark in his opening lede:

• Key things that did not happen in the 2013 legislative session

Mr. Clark reels off a list of six failed bills, one of which deserves special  note:

No less dramatic was a confrontation involving members of a coalition that blocked potential development of the West Layton Village via two land referendums last November, and the Utah League of Cities of Towns, of which Layton is a member.
In response to the Layton initiative and referendum issues in Orem and Lindon, UCLT sponsored legislation to tighten up the rules for a referendum. The bill sailed through the Senate. However, in the House, some Davis County residents lobbied against it, suggesting it was retaliation from Layton for having taken on City Hall. The bill made it to the floor of the House late Wednesday night, but was circled, or tabled, and then was never brought up for consideration again. It was one of only five bills left on the House calendar when the gavel came down on the session Thursday night.

Mr. Clark's story of course refers to the much criticized "citizen's referendum reform bill" (SB66), sponsored by Ogden's own District 18 State Senator Stuart Reid (R). As regular readers are no doubt aware, we took special interest in this citizen-unfriendly bill, and posted several articles on the topic.

In that connection, we'll offer our congratulations and thanks to the many WCF readers  which responded to our cranky opposition rants (our web stats software tells the happy tale), and contacted their "legislative critters" to urge a thumbs down on this bill.

"Democracy works when people claim it as their own," as media sage Bill Moyers once remarked, and in this circumstance it appears that it was Utah League of Cities and Towns lapdog Senator Reid who ultimately got "owned" by the steely-eyed Lumpencitizens of the State of Utah.