'Sideshow' bills run gamut
Those are just some of the messages legislators want to send this year, either through nonbinding resolutions or attempted action. They are also all part of an annual group of bills that can raise eyebrows because of the highly controversial issues they tackle, the methods they seek to employ, such as constitutional amendments, or simply because they address problems that many people were not even aware existed.
Yet these "sideshow" bills, as Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. characterized some of them last week, can grab headlines and prompt lengthy debates because they touch on emotional or politically charged issues.
So far this session, the kingpin of the attention grabbers has been SB96, run by Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, which would attempt to regulate the teaching of evolution.
Although the bill does not address Bible-based creationism or its offspring, intelligent design, it would require teachers to explain that there are competing theories about the origins of life and how the human species arrived at its current state. Because of those provision, educators, civil liberty advocates and at least some legislators are concerned that such a measure would open the door to teaching religion in the classroom.
Disturbed by the absence of religion in school, Sen. Parley Hellewell, R-Orem, is seeking to remind educators that student activities like singing Christmas carols or group prayer are permitted. His SJR9 urges the state to mail out thousands of copies of the reminder to all students and their parents in the state, hoping to send a strong message that the separation of church and state does not equal the absence of church within the state.
"We always have the ACLU . . . scaring everybody, saying you can't pray or we'll sue you," Hellewell said this past week. "The purpose is so everyone has an understanding of what the law is, what (students) can do and what they can't do."
Another resolution, HJR7, criticizes a recent U.S. Supreme Court regarding Internet pornography. The bill, which is sponsored by Rep. Ron Bigelow, R-West Valley, also urges the U.S. Congress to pass a constitutional amendment that bans pornography.
Outside of constitutional issues, a number of this year's resolutions come from a particular political viewpoint. For example, Rep. LaVar Christensen, R-Draper, wants to honor former President Ronald Reagan by renaming Hill Air Force Base as Reagan Hill Air Force Base because of his legacy as "one of the greatest modern presidents."
Needless to say, Democrats may not agree with that assessment, although fans of great acronyms will probably support it. After all, if the name were changed, the current marbles-in-mouth sound of "HAFB" could become the more eloquent sounding "ReHAB."
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