Yesterday the Utah House passed SB70, a subject that I have posted here before. While SB70 is designed to, in the words of the bill’s sponsors, “balance the power” between legislators and the governor, it would de facto allow the legislature to vote on allowing more toxic waste to be accepted by corporations such as Envirocare.

That’s the bad news. The somewhatgood news is that the vote did not reach the required threshold to override a veto by Utah Governor Huntsman. And Huntsman plans to veto. But the Utah Senate passed SB70 with enough votes to be veto-proof. If the House can convince three more reps to support the measure, the veto could then be overridden. It’s very close and not over yet.

This has passed despite public outcry and oppostion by the governor of Utah. This is concrete proof that our representatives simply do not listen to constituents and, I dare say, are only interested in the desires of corporations and not the people.

Off Capitol Hill, opposition has steadily grown against the bill. The Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah (HEAL) has rallied citizen opposition. The League of Women Voters has urged members to express their objections to lawmakers.
They were joined this week by the Alliance for Unity, a high-profile coalition of religious, civic and business leaders. The Alliance stopped short of opposing SB70, but made it clear that the rigorous approval process now in place should stay in place.
“They don’t want Utah to serve as a dumping ground for the rest of the nation,” said Alexander Morrison, a retired leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Alliance’s executive director. “Not only are we on the side of the angels, but on the side of the majority of Utahns.”