it should be noted this is almost entirely motivated by unions helping to kill several Republican referendum efforts in Utah last year. see here for more information on that:
First, there was Amendment D, their attempt to grab more power over citizen-led initiatives. It was a classic overreach, and it flopped spectacularly when lawmakers forgot to follow some very basic constitutional procedures—like publishing it in newspapers statewide. Oops. (We wrote a whole substack about it here)
Then came Amendment A, their big plan to strip a 100-year-old constitutional earmark protecting public education funding. Same deal as Amendent D, Utah Education Association (UEA) sued, pointing out that lawmakers, once again, failed to follow the rules. Instead of admitting their mistake, lawmakers doubled down, deciding that the real villains here were... teachers.
So, what did lawmakers do after these double face plants? They could’ve taken a moment of self-reflection, maybe a little “live, laugh, learn” energy. Instead, they decided the real problem wasn’t their incompetence—it was the people who caught them. Enter HB267, their petty revenge plot against public sector unions, because when you can’t follow the rules, the next best thing is punishing the teachers who can.