The Utah Legislature’s website delineates the most-followed bills each year. For political hacks like us, we watch this list like it’s Carson Daly’s top 10. Here is our take:
Rep. Joseph Elison’s HB120, Time Change Amendments, is topping the charts. He proposes Utah observe Mountain Standard Time year-round until the feds act. We explain why this is popular.
COWLEY: The perennial issue, should Utah stop changing our clocks twice a year, has widespread support. However, constituents are split on adopting permanent daylight saving time or standard time. Unfortunately, Utah cannot be on permanent daylight saving without a literal act of Congress. Only time will tell if they will act or let this issue slip into the twilight zone.
Springing forward and falling back brings a unique cross-section of interests to the table: golfers, rec leagues and parents of sleep-deprived, over-scheduled teenagers. The pros and cons include: safer morning commutes, alignment of clocks with true mid-day, disruptions to circadian rhythms and costly lighting on sports fields.
Whatever timezone Utah ends up with, I just hope it aligns with my oven display because I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how to change the darn thing!
PIGNANELLI: “A global awakening cannot happen. We all live in different time zones.” —Ljupka Cvetanova
Protests against authority are integral to our American fabric. Whether it was the revolution against the British, the abolition movement, civil rights marches, etc., our citizens object to outrageous, overbearing behavior. I am proud to participate in this heritage. Every November, I courageously reject repression and refuse to change the clock in my automobile.
According to a Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll, 71% of Utahns want a consistent time but are split on standard or daylight. I prefer daylight saving because few things in life are more wonderful than Utah summer evenings.
Consequently, the legislation should be amended, requiring the state to follow a time zone established by the executive order of the president of the United States. Then President Donald Trump can create the “Great America Time Zone” to circumvent congressional dysfunction. This allows a compromise between standard and daylight saving supporters by advancing the national clock by one-half hour (as some countries do).
If we can abolish the penny, the least we can do is eliminate this needless changing of clocks.
Sen. Dan McCay is sponsoring SB230, Utah Resident Terminology Amendments. This brilliant legislation formerly establishes “Utahn” as the state demonym. All citizens love this measure.
COWLEY: The spelling test bill is sponsored by Sen. McCay, who promulgated Utah’s new flag. Could this be phase two of his grand scheme to make “Utah Great Again” by shaming out-of-staters for adding an extra vowel to our preferred moniker?
It became clear to me that “demonym” is not a word in McCay’s regular lexicon. After a bit of investigatory journalism (I just texted him), I unearthed the true genius behind the bill — BYU’s own Quin Monson. 90% of Utah residents agree “Utahn” is correct. His research shows Utah media outlets spell it correctly, whereas national media is about as accurate as a coin toss. The only name more commonly misspelled is the bill sponsor’s. Now was it McCay or McKay?
This spelling mistake is as effective as someone’s pronunciation of “Tooele” or “mountain” to suss out if someone is a native-born Utahn.
The stakes are high. If we do not assert ourselves now, Utahns will be subject to the usage of unnecessary vowels by the unreliable national media and Microsoft Word’s autocorrect! Shame, Bill Gates! Shame!
PIGNANELLI: Sen. McCay’s effort to change the state flag incurred significant support and tremendous opposition. However, this legislation eliminates all prior criticism and elevates him to greatness.
For many decades I have struggled against linguistic snobs, auto-corrects and so-called dictionaries attempting to rename my fellow citizens. We are UTAHNS!
Also, I strongly recommend a provision that individuals with a public persona (especially from the coastal regions) and owners of computer applications who continue to add the “a” will be charged with a felony, tried, extradited and then subject to cruel and unusual punishment (i.e. writing “Utahn” one million times).
Hooray for McCay. Let’s hope local restaurants offer him complimentary fry sauce for the rest of his life.
HB348, Insect Terminology Amendments, by Rep. Doug Owens, petitions the Entomological Society of America to reference the species Anabrus Simplex (“Mormon cricket”) by a scientific or another common name in order to avoid association between this undesirable insect and Utah’s founders.
COWLEY: The Legislature seems determined to erase all living references to the lore of a cricket scourge ended by pioneer prayers and insatiable appetites of seagulls. They previously (and unsuccessfully) attempted to change the state bird, the California Gull.
Calling them “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints crickets” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
PIGNANELLI: Rep. Owens is finally eliminating this insect’s moniker that reflected the brave pioneers it almost destroyed.
I suggest this insect be renamed the “Boggs Cricket.” Lilburn Boggs was the Missouri governor who issued the 1838 extermination order that demanded the death and exile of Church members. It is appropriate that the disgusting critter be named after an equally reprehensible person.