Utah Legislature to Consider Sanctity of Life Bills

Friday, Jan. 13, 2017

Sanctity of life, options for the poor, care for Creation, rights and responsibilities – these are a few of the issues Catholic social teaching directs us to engage in, and a few of the issues our state legislature will address in the 2017 session, opening Jan. 23.

The sanctity of life will be most directly impacted by competing bills to repeal or expand the death penalty and a bill to legalize assisted suicide. As we have the past several years, the Diocese of Salt Lake City will advocate for an end to state executions and against promoting assisted suicide. This year, we also encourage Catholics to be more involved in our efforts through relatively simple actions. For two weekends, Jan. 14-15 and 21-22, many parishes will provide postcards on these issues after Masses. We encourage parishioners to fill out both so we can deliver a unified message to legislators during the session. Parishioners who do not receive the cards at their parish can download postcards at http://www.dioslc.org/ministries/governmentliaison and send the cards to Diocese of Salt Lake City, Attn: Jean Hill, 27 C St., Salt Lake City, UT, 84103, before Jan. 24.  

Information about both of these proposals, including talking points and Catholic teaching, are also available on the website. 

Options for the poor will be raised in several pieces of legislation, and are always impacted by the budget process. Budget requests for 2017 will include $9 million for homeless services and the four new centers in Salt Lake City, as well as continued funding for health services for families in poverty.

In addition, legislation has been filed to provide additional funding incentives for low-income housing. There may also be legislation to assist mobile home park tenants faced with eviction through rent increases, and bills to ease restrictions that make it extremely difficult for individuals with felony convictions to find housing and employment.

Care for creation could be impacted by several measures, including provisions to end incentives for residential solar projects; attempts to remove the Department of Environmental Quality from a commission designed to address protection, conservation and development of state water resources; and several competing measures that may improve or harm air quality, depending on which, if any, pass.

Rights and responsibilities will need to be carefully balanced in bills that address intergenerational poverty, Medicaid, and ownership of firearms.  

As we have in the past, the diocese will actively engage in supporting measures that help move people out of poverty, without making negative assumptions about the work ethic or motivation of individuals trying to do so. We will also advocate against firearms measures that eliminate what few protections state law provides for the public, such as opposing a bill to allow anyone to carry a firearm without undergoing a background check or concealed carry permit process.

In other words, and as always, it will be a busy legislative session addressing a raft of issues that impact our beliefs. Catholic engagement is always needed, and is an integral part of Church teaching.  Our faith invites us to be involved in the public square, speaking with the poor and vulnerable, being a part of community efforts to create a more just and peaceful state, and presenting a moral perspective on governmental decisions. 

For more information about the bills the diocese is following, and our positions, please visit http://www.dioslc.org/ministries/governmentliaison and look for the 2017 legislative priorities link.  More detailed information on some issues is also available through the links in the menu on the web page.