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Opinion: Lawmakers were hypocritical to take powers from local government

The Republican Party has long fought to keep the federal government from dictating the decisions of individual states, and now they’re turning around and doing the same thing to our cities and counties

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House Speaker Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, presides over the House during the 2022 session of the Utah Legislature.

House Speaker Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, presides over the House during the 2022 session of the Utah Legislature at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022.

Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

As a lifelong Republican, I am horrified and ashamed by the Utah Legislature’s efforts to take key rights away from city and county governments.

The Republican Party has long fought to keep the federal government from dictating the decisions of individual states, and now they’re turning around and doing the same thing to our cities and counties. Having a Layton senator dictate what happens in Salt Lake or Summit County is the same thing as Washington dictating what happens here. Residents in those cities and counties chose their elected officials — people who understand the circumstances in that particular area. They have a right to be governed by those people, one the Legislature is taking away.

The true measure of a man is how he feels about freedoms he doesn’t personally agree with. Members of the Utah Legislature have proven themselves to be the worst sort of hypocrites, and we’ll all end up suffering for it in the future.

Jenniffer Wardell

Layton