The One-Upsmanship Game
The moderates and conservatives in the Republican Party at the Utah State Legislature seem to have a more contentious relationship with each other than the party at large has with the tiny and largely irrelevant Democratic minority party.
Republicans have greater philosophical differences within their party than one might assume. And sometimes, the game of cat and mouse among fellow Republicans
gets comical.
Many figured that HB308, sponsored by Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, was a cynical shot at public education advocates lobbying for substantial funding increases for the schools.
It was titled the "Tax Me More for Education" bill and would provide an extra line on state tax returns where taxpayers could write in a voluntary contribution for public education. Hughes is the chairman of the House Conservative Caucus,
whose members often get in tug-of-wars with publc education groups over the issues of charter schools, vouchers for private schools and the level of funding needed for public schools.
Hughes' "Tax Me More" title was seen as a slap to public education groups wanting more funding because of the negative connotation.
So fellow Republican, Rep. Kory Holdaway, R-Taylorsville, who is an educator in the public school system, decided to do a little slapping of his own. He proposed an amendment to the bill Friday, changing its name from "Tax Me More for Education" to "Invest More in Education," which happens to be the slogan of the Utah Education
Association, a group some in the conservative caucus view as their arch-enemy (next to the PTA, of course).
Holdaway's amendment passed and the bill has the new name, but a close examination of the vote indicates he maybe shouldn't gloat too much.
All the Democrats, who are in Holdaway's camp on education funding, voted against the amendment, as did many of the Republican moderates. The amendment passed largely because of the support of the conservatives.
Why?
It is expected most taxpayers won't check the box to voluntarily pay more taxes. If the box says "Invest More in Education" and goes mostlly unchecked, conservatives can come back in future sessions and say the voters really don't want to invest more in public education.
Holdaway, you might recall, was a target in last year's Republican Primary of the pro-voucher folks, who are supporters of conservatives like Hughes. They failed to defeat Holdaway, however, and his race was one of many that showed the right wing of the party does not have the sway with voters it would like.
So that was a win for the moderates. If this amendment ends up being a win for conservatives, call it one-to-one.
Just more fun and games on Capitol Hill.
Cheers,
Paul Rolly
Republicans have greater philosophical differences within their party than one might assume. And sometimes, the game of cat and mouse among fellow Republicans
gets comical.
Many figured that HB308, sponsored by Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, was a cynical shot at public education advocates lobbying for substantial funding increases for the schools.
It was titled the "Tax Me More for Education" bill and would provide an extra line on state tax returns where taxpayers could write in a voluntary contribution for public education. Hughes is the chairman of the House Conservative Caucus,
whose members often get in tug-of-wars with publc education groups over the issues of charter schools, vouchers for private schools and the level of funding needed for public schools.
Hughes' "Tax Me More" title was seen as a slap to public education groups wanting more funding because of the negative connotation.
So fellow Republican, Rep. Kory Holdaway, R-Taylorsville, who is an educator in the public school system, decided to do a little slapping of his own. He proposed an amendment to the bill Friday, changing its name from "Tax Me More for Education" to "Invest More in Education," which happens to be the slogan of the Utah Education
Association, a group some in the conservative caucus view as their arch-enemy (next to the PTA, of course).
Holdaway's amendment passed and the bill has the new name, but a close examination of the vote indicates he maybe shouldn't gloat too much.
All the Democrats, who are in Holdaway's camp on education funding, voted against the amendment, as did many of the Republican moderates. The amendment passed largely because of the support of the conservatives.
Why?
It is expected most taxpayers won't check the box to voluntarily pay more taxes. If the box says "Invest More in Education" and goes mostlly unchecked, conservatives can come back in future sessions and say the voters really don't want to invest more in public education.
Holdaway, you might recall, was a target in last year's Republican Primary of the pro-voucher folks, who are supporters of conservatives like Hughes. They failed to defeat Holdaway, however, and his race was one of many that showed the right wing of the party does not have the sway with voters it would like.
So that was a win for the moderates. If this amendment ends up being a win for conservatives, call it one-to-one.
Just more fun and games on Capitol Hill.
Cheers,
Paul Rolly
2:46 PM
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