From: James Yorton Subject: ACTION ALERT: Utah Date: Fri, 22 Mar 1996 09:44:53 -0600 (CST) [ Moderator Note: This is not a duplicate action alert. It is another call to action on a different phase of the Bill. submitted by jessea@uclink4.berkeley.edu (Jessea NR Greenman) ] Charlene Orchard Co-Chair, Utah Human Rights Coalition P.O. Box 521242 Salt Lake City, UT 84152-1242 801-484-5291 Late on the last day that Utah Governor Mike Leavitt had to consider passed legislation, he vetoed controversial SB246, the bill that would prohibit private actions of school employees and volunteers if those actions would undermind the morals of school children and cause a significant disruption of school activities. The governor said that he feared the bill would infringe the free speech rights of teachers. This is a mixed victory because Leavitt has put SB246 on the agenda for an April 17, one-day, special session of the legislature in order to fix the language of the bill. The Utah Human Rights Coalition maintains that SB246 is completely unnecessary if what it wants to do is prohibit illegal conduct, as the bill's title reads. Unfortunately, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, the bill's sponsor, Sen. Craig Taylor "said his intention was to keep gay and lesbian students from meeting on public school campuses and to discourage teachers from sponsoring those clubs." UHRC is very concerned that new language in SB246 may make its target more clear. We are urging concerned Utah citizens to call and write their representatives in the House and Senate and ask them to kill SB246 because it is unnecessary. It is already illegal for teachers to engage in or promote illegal conduct. People outside of Utah who are watching our bewildering activity can help by calling or writing the House and Senate leadership and ask them why they feel it is necessary to prohibit what is already prohibited. What are they really trying to do? The best action would be to delete the language submitted by Sen. Taylor which amends the existing statute prohibiting schools from supporting illegal conduct. Lane Beattie President (R) 1313 North 1100 West West Bountiful, Utah 84087 H-292-7406 O-298-7000 Craig A. Peterson Majority Leader (R) 1687 North 200 West Orem, Utah 84057 H-226-3236 O-756-8888 Leonard M. Blackham Majority Whip (R) P.O. Box 255 Moroni, Utah 84646 H-436-8489 O-436-8125 Scott N. Howell Minority Leader (D) 9711 South 3725 East Sandy, Utah 84092 H-943-5770 O-328-6643 George Mantes Minority Whip (D) 185 North Main Suite 201 Tooele, Utah 84074 H-882-4856 SLC-531-8157 Leonard M. Blackham Majority Whip (R) P.O. Box 255 Moroni, Utah 84646 H-436-8489 O-436-8125 ----- --- _____________________________________________________________________________ * ACTION-ALERT is a moderated mailing list. * * To subscribe to ACTION-ALERT, send mail to: majordomo@vector.casti.com * * In the mail message, enter ONLY the words: subscribe action-alert * * To unsubscribe to ACTION-ALERT, send mail to: majordomo@vector.casti.com * * In the mail message, enter ONLY the words: unsubscribe action-alert * * Words in the Subject: line are NOT processed! * _____________________________________________________________________________