The first day of the Utah State Legislative session for 2014 is Jan. 27, 2014, and your financial and physical health are on the line. Don’t be fooled by the start date, however, you can act now to positively influence your representative on the Hill before the session even starts.
Based on enrollment numbers, Salt Lake Community College students could have a significant impact on the governing body that holds the keys to funding higher education in the state. While the Board of Regents has authorized an increase in tuition at SLCC each of the last 10 years for about 68 percent or $640 for a full-time course load, students can change that with a call, email or letter to their representative.
Even if only half of the students enrolled at SLCC called their government representative, the impact would be enough to change how much money is given to the college. It would also apply pressure to the Board of Regents to rein in their continuing insistence on unacceptable yearly gouging of college students wallets.
If you are not concerned about the air quality, you should be.
While Stericycle continues to belch the untreated remains of medical waste through its bypass stack and the refineries pump heavy metals and other chemicals into the air on state approved permits, residents along the Wasatch Front are paying a heavy price in medical fees, reduced lung capacity, lower childhood IQs and potential sterility through low sperm count. The Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment has estimated the cost to $1 billion in medical treatment.
There are a number of bills set to go through this year’s legislative session, but none of them will be passed without a call from constituents in support of them. You are the government in a democracy; you just need to be informed and participate.
For your representatives’ contact information, visit le.utah.gov/GIS/findDistrict.jsp
Twitter: @Shadexaminer
