U. could lose funding over gun ban

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U. could lose funding over gun ban By Jerry SpanglerDeseret News staff writer A Senate committee has holstered a proposal that would have allowed state lawmakers to strip administrative funding from the University of Utah over its current gun ban. The bill would have applied to any state entity that enacts rules or policies in conflict with state law. Despite unanimous public testimony in favor of the bill, the State and Local Affairs Committee Tuesday refused to vote on SB147, sponsored by Sen. Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, who has sparred with U. President Bernie Machen over the university's policy banning concealed weapons from campus. "It is pretty obvious the committee didn't want to pass the bill, and I don't think (the bill) will be scheduled again," Waddoups said. SB147 would have set up a process whereby lawmakers could inform state entities that certain policies and rules were in conflict with state law. The agency would then have 30 days to correct the problem or the issue would go before two different appropriations committees for public hearings. The Executive Appropriations Committee would be given the authority to cut the offending agency's administrative funding by up to 50 percent for refusal to comply with the state law. "By the time we hold two public hearings, it will be very clear to the agencies" what the intent of the Legislature is, and "they will come into conformity," he said. Waddoups believes lawmakers would rarely, if ever, cut funding to a state entity. But just having the means to do so would be a powerful message to bureaucracies that believe they are above the law. "We do have the right to control the purse strings," he said. Currently, the Administrative Rules Committee holds hearings on rules and policies that may be in conflict with state law, but the committee has no means to force entities to comply with the law other than initiating a lawsuit through the attorney general's office. Several citizens testified in favor of the bill, and no one testified against it. Nevertheless, the committee voted unanimously to simply take no action on the bill. That action does not spell the end of the proposal. Waddoups is chairman of the powerful Rules Committee, and he indicated he may recall the bill and reassign it to another committee willing to consider it. With or without SB147, the dispute between the Legislature and Machen is likely headed to court. Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has already issued a legal opinion that the U.'s gun policy is out of compliance with state law, but Machen's attorneys believe state universities have the right to ban guns from state campuses. Terry Trease of West Jordan said he finds it offensive that taxpayers would have to pay for the legal fight, first for the attorneys general defending the state law and then again for the university attorneys defying the law. "Please manage these insubordinate acts," he said. "It is time to stop the inertia of government." Waddoups emphasized the bill was not targeted exclusively at the University of Utah but all agencies that refuse to comply with legislative intent. He cited as an example the Division of Consumer Services, which was ordered by the Legislature to move its offices but has not yet done so. One witness also pointed out that the Utah Transit Authority, funded in large part by sales tax revenue, does not allow legal concealed weapons aboard TRAX. All of the witnesses cited the arrogance of nonelected bureaucrats imposing their agenda on the taxpaying public. "The elite feel they have the right to set their own rules without regard for the will of the people or the rule of law," said Holladay resident Leonard Wojcik. "Bureaucracies are like farm animals," he said. "As they get larger they belly up to the trough and consume more. The wise farmer, however, controls their quantity and diet, just as the Legislature has the right and responsibility to control and direct the bureaucracies." http://www.deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,375006952,00.html