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NFIB Urges
Defeat of SB 175 S2
(Alert 2/25/04)
The National Federation of
Independent Business - Utah Chapter, with over 3,500 members
in Utah, has urged legislators and its members to defeat SB
175 S2.
How will legislators respond to the growing
surge of resistance? Will they respect the will and rights of
the people, or be indignant and callous? House
leadership has spitefully fast-tracked the bill for a final
floor vote, possibly today. The NFIB letter
reads as follows:
Dear NFIB Utah member,
Below is a letter sent to each state senator and
representative regarding two bills that would dramatically
affect you and your business. Please call your house member
at (801) 538-1029 and your senator at (801) 538-1035 and make
your voice heard.
John Christensen
Leadership Council Chair
NFIB Utah
February 18, 2004
Dear Senator:
NFIB Utah, after polling its members,
has taken a position for SB 66 and against SB
175. It is our position that any kind of funding with
taxpayers money to compete against the private sector is
absolutely wrong. We believe SB 66 should be moved forward,
not only for this reason, but to forestall the great liability
that could be incurred by the taxpayers of this state, if
projects such as UTOPIA fail. There are so many priorities --
education, affordable housing, water projects just to name a
few -- and, given this sluggish economy, we hope there will be
no doubt in your mind that it’s the right thing to do. It
should be up to the voters of those municipalities to decide
whether or not they want to incur tax debt to pay for such a
risky venture.
NFIB members are opposed to SB 175, and
supported Initiative B when it was passed by 69 percent of
voters in 2000. Initiative B restored due process protections
for innocent property owners in property forfeiture cases.
Should law enforcement have every tool available to fight the
war on drugs? Absolutely! But our law enforcement officers
should be respected for the difficult work they do. We should
not burden them or hinder their relationship with the citizens
they serve by tempting them to seize the property of innocent
owners. Nor should business owners be assumed guilty and
denied due process in unjust federal administrative hearings
-- particularly when they are unable to adequately defend
themselves without their property.
NFIB members do not want to sacrifice
the integrity of our law enforcement or put the rights of
innocent business owners and citizens in jeopardy. State
government is operating with a $7,000,000,000+ annual budget.
If law enforcement needs additional support, they need to get
it the right way through a clean legislative budget process.
We appreciate your position and the
pressure you are under from various self-interested groups
representing the above bills. However, doing the right thing
is just that -- the right thing to do.
Yours truly,
John Christensen
Leadership Council Chair
NFIB Utah
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Download Fliers & Get
More Information
You
can view, download, and copy updated fliers against SB 175.
Visit our Volunteer Action Page
and make your neighbors aware of the threat to their rights
and community.
Note that the latest version
SB 175 differs
little from the first substitute or original bill. All
versions trample on your rights by providing Utah police
financial incentives to subject you to unjust federal
confiscation statutes.
Obtain more background information.
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If you have comments or suggestions, please
email us at info@accountabilityutah.org.
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