The group, Utahns for Ethical Government has waited a very long time for the office of Utah Lt. Gov. Greg Bell to decide whether it will certify the 120,000 or so signatures UEG has gathered to place an ethics reform initiative on the 2012 ballot in the state.
Finally, UEG has filed a lawsuit to get the state to certify the petitions. We support the lawsuit and hope UEG prevails. It is clear that state officials are doing just about everything they can to try to stop the ethics inititiative from ever getting on a Utah ballot.
UEG petition gatherers always faced a tough time getting the amount of signatures needed for a referendum in 2010. Utah has a convoluted petition process that not only requires scores of thousands of signatures, it requires that each county gather a certain amount.
UEG failed to meet a deadline for 2010 but did gather enough signatures for a 2012 referendum. However, disputes over when signatures can be gathered or whether online signatures are allowed have kept the grassroots effort in suspense.
Recent developments from the Utah Legislature have not been promising for those who seek ethics reform in the state. Legislators not only increased the amount of signatures needed via petitions, they also prohibited online petition signatures. This is a clear indication that the majority party in Utah is not interested in being part of any popular effort to place clear, tough, honest ethical rules in Utah politics. The sole accomplishment of the legislative branch in this state has been a serious of weak "ethics reform" bills that do not limit campaign contributions or ban gifts.
We hope the courts will do the right thing and mandate that the UEG ethics reform package be placed on the ballot for the next major election.
At that time, those opposed to the ethics reform proposals will have ample opportunity to try to persuade the public that the status quo is just fine in Utah.
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