Effective Goverment In Action...?

Alright...I'm going to give up a little personal info here. But first, a question: What would you call a State Legislature that works approximately 15 weeks per year, is unpaid, and wastes most of its first 13 weeks endlessly debating bills, taxes, budgets, etc, then crams into two weeks what should have been done over the previous 13?

In Utah, its called Effective Government In Action--or, I should say, inaction. That's right. I've lived in Utah (unfortunately) for 6 1/2 long years. Enough time to know that the State Legislature is a joke of a "Legislative Body." The endless debates do indeed suddenly cease somewhere in the 13th week, then every Representative and Senator puts as many riders on as many bills as they can, and finally reach the end of their yearly session; each heading back to their regular jobs, knowing that they did their best.

Do you see what's wrong with this picture? If not, let me give you a little more info. Most of each years' session is filled in budgetary discussion. New laws are passed that have no real effect on everyday lives in Utah, while REAL issues are never addressed.

For instance, the Legislature (I don't think) has any real oversight on the state contracts issued to road repair work. There is a stretch on I-15 which is filled with pot holes. Repair crews (plural) head out, patch it up, then return (literally) 3-4 months later to repair the same holes. This has gone on the whole 6 1/2 years I have lived here! The state will pay the contractor multiple times for a repair job that could (and should) be done once. Why don't they? Where is the oversight?

The drivers in this state are perhaps the worst I have ever been around. (I've got a whole other blog I'll be doing on this, but let me touch on this briefly). Why? There are multiple reasons, so let me just start here. The lifelong citizens of this state are so paranoid about raising taxes ("I don't want the governmint tellin ME what to do!") that the State doesn't have enough $$ too pay for the much needed law enforcement increases. I wrote my State Representative and Senator about this issue, as well as the Governor. I got NOTHING of a response from any of them. They don't seem to care. A sad statement.

It's a fact that Utah has one of the highest per capita auto insurance rates in the country. Why? Because there are so many at-fault accidents. Now, I know that increased law enforcement wouldn't necessarily decrease the at-fault accidents significantly, but increased presence would indeed help to lower the number.

Then finally, here's the real doozie. The Legislature, in its infinite and misguided wisdom, in order to meet the budget, has decided that all State offices will have a 4-day work-work. Further, there is discussion that this will include the public schools! Instead of raising taxes to benefit education, the Legislature might essentially tell every parent that their children's future isn't important enough.

Additionally, the very concept creates other issues such as daycare for working parents who will suddenly have to either stay home (and miss out on income), or pay extra monies for another day of childcare. What non-core subjects will be lost because there is no longer enough time to teach everything (arts, music, etc)? Or how about the product vendors for all the school districts? How many workers would they have to lay-off in order to meet their budgets? How many taxes will be lost because the schools are closed one extra day?

How will one of the poorest funded educational systems in this country fare when an additional day of instruction is lost because the Legislature is afraid to raise taxes?

The Utah State Legislature is a joke. It won't do what it MUST in order to meet the basic needs of its citizens because it's too afraid that a pro-tax strategy will lose their next elections. When will they wake up an realize that the constituancy of this state deserve better than the "best" they (the Legislature) have done?
Taxes can indeed go too far; but when the basics of education and infrastructure are marginalized, then we have a prime example of government 'inaction.'