This Week's Legislative Bills

Empowering Parents in Utah to Advocate for Their Children

HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING & WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT:

This bill requires digital resources, provided by UETN to Utah's public schools, to block obscene or pornographic material. It will make a difference on protecting our children from pornography in schools.

This bill is in the Judiciary committee on Fri Feb 12 @ 8:00am

Call to Action: Please email these committee members and ask them to vote "YES" on HB38

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HB 93 Suicide Prevention Programs

It introduces suicide programs to elementary schools, where suicides are not happening. It's not age appropriate and it's not a topic we need to introduce into the minds of young children. This bill further ignores the science behind family involvement in preventing suicide and cuts out promoting family relationships to decrease suicide. Instead, the state is introducing a program that proposes that they are the best institution to prevent suicide.

This bill is still being discussed and reworked, so it's possible a substitute bill may be presented that addresses some of our concerns. But the current state of this bill ignores science and family.

Call to Action: Email your legislators and ask them to vote "NO" on HB93 in introducing suicide prevention programs in elementary schools, or ask them to separate elementary programs from the secondary program in a substitute bill.

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HB 117 - Vaccine Registry

It's on its 3rd substitute, meaning it has gone through several revisions. We were originally opposed to the bill, but since it has been revised to give parents the choice to opt out, we are now neutral. We had physician review the bill for us and there are good arguments on both sides.

This bill ultimately creates a state wide registry that gives the state control of your medical information. Although it gives parents the chance to opt out of the registry, the state will know who has opted out and those parents may have to prove that their children have those vaccinations. A central registry does provide convenience for parents and houses all medical records in one place, but the government is not immune from data breeches.

Further, parents need to decide who they want to be in control of their medical information. Do they want to relinquish that control to the state for convenience, or do they want to retain that privacy and responsibility? On principal, this grows government and gives government personal information that can later be used against constituents. For example, Hitler and Mao Tse-Tung both created registries for their constituents.

There are components of this bill that are better than current law, but as parents we need to decide if we want the government to be in charge of our medical information or if we want the responsibility to take care of our private personal medical records and keep that between our family and our medical provider.

Call to Action: Email your senators and let them know what you would prefer. Do you want the government to be in charge of your records, or do want to retain it as parental responsibility?

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SB165 Sex Offender Amendment

After a molester or kidnapper has served their sentence and the required time has elapsed, this bill would require the Department of Corrections to automatically remove individuals from the Sex and Kidnap Offender Registry at the taxpayer's expense. It removes the requirement for the molester/kidnapper to comply with a request for removal and puts the burden and cost on the state instead of the perpetrator. It also removes the requirement for the molester/kidnapper to request removal from the sex registry. We should never allow the perpetrator to be promoted at the expense of the victim.

We believe in redemption, however, as these individuals have committed a serious crime, it should be their financial responsibility to remove themselves from the registry, when legally allowed, and the initiative should come from the perpetrator. Parents, victims and taxpayers should NOT incur the cost and consequences of the perpetrator's actions. This is not a good use of taxpayer money when funds are already tight.

Call to Action: Contact your senators and ask them to vote NO on SB165

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HB302 Preserving Women Sports

Requires schools, local education agencies, and institutions to designate athletic activities by sex; prohibits a student of the male sex from participating in an athletic activity designated for female students.

No matter what side of the fence you are on, this is going to affect athletes in school. States that have allowed athletes of the male sex to compete with athletes of the female sex have shown that female sex athletes are no longer competitive and can no longer attain scholarships because male sex athletes have a biological competitive advantage. In order to be fair to male and female sex athletes we need to make legislation based on biological sex instead of gender fluidity.

We respect all athletes and their desire to compete and we support their desire to compete in sports. We need to come up with an alternative win-win solution that accounts for the biological differences of males and females.

Call to Action: Email the members of the House of Representatives and ask them to vote YES on HB302

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SB121 National Popular Vote

Utah would join a compact for our state's votes go to the popular vote. It would dismantle the electoral college which would make Utah and all other states irrelevant in voting for our President. The largest 20 cities in the United States, have a greater population than the rest of the country combined. we lose balance. Our republic is based on division of power. This bill would dismantle our republic and mean your voice would no longer matter

Call to Action: Contact the Government Ops committee and ask them to vote "NO" on SB121

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HB116 School Attendance

Eliminates requirement to have authorization from a doctor to be excused from school for medical reasons. This makes it easier for us as parents because we no longer need to take our children to the doctor if they were home because of something like a headache or cold. This gives parents the back the right to decide when their child is well enough to return to school.

Call to Action: Email all senators to tell them to vote YES on HB116 and that you, as a parent, appreciate this bill in that it empowers parents!

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You can watch a summary of the bills here:

Learn more about how to contact your elected officials!

Watch our in-depth training on how to find and contact your elected officials facilitated by UPU's Public Relations Director, Corinne Johnson, Kim Coleman former member of the Utah House of Representatives, and Dalane England from Loving Liberty Network:

HOW TO FIND YOUR LEGISLATORS

Here's how you find your legislator:

Visit https://le.utah.gov/GIS/findDistrict.jsp
Type in your address and zip code
Click "Find"

Two pictures will appear. One is your House Representative and one is your Senator. When you click on their pictures their email addresses will appear. Email them and tell them you are a registered voter in their district and you want them to represent your voice. Tell them how you want them to vote.

UPDATE

HB 177 Sex Education Amendments

This bill is currently on hold. The committee that heard the bill acknowledged that there were several problems with the bill. The bill is currently being revised. We will keep you posted on the status as we get more information and we'll let you know what you can do next.

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Utah Parents United

Davis County, UT

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