Judge to Look at Education Bill: A.G. Wants Part of a Lawsuit Against the Omnibus Bill Dismissed

By Lisa Schencker, The Salt Lake Tribune

Jul. 1–The Utah Attorney General’s Office is asking a judge to dismiss part of a lawsuit that alleges an education omnibus bill is unconstitutional.

Assistant Attorney General Jerrold Jensen filed a motion Monday to dismiss parts of a 3rd District Court lawsuit filed against several state agencies tasked with enforcing SB2, a bill lawmakers passed earlier this year that is actually more than a dozen education bills rolled into one.

Thirty-eight plaintiffs, including lawmakers, state board of education members and other state education leaders, filed the lawsuit in May. They allege SB2 violates the Utah Constitution partly because it contains more than one subject, and the bill’s name, “Minimum School Program Budget Amendments,” doesn’t clearly describe its contents.

The Attorney General’s Office, however, says in its response that past Utah Supreme Court cases have consistently held that all that’s required is “. . . that the subject matter of the act be reasonably related to the title and that parts of the act be reasonably related to each other.”

Jensen said about 40 cases dealing with similar issues have already come before the Utah Supreme Court.

“Whether or not one likes or dislikes the political process in how SB2 was constructed is immaterial,” says the memorandum in support of the motion to dismiss. “If the Utah Supreme Court can find horse racing and pari-mutuel betting to be so intertwined as to be one subject, certainly funding of the Minimum School Program and other educational programs can be treated as one subject, that subject being education.”

David Irvine, an attorney for the plaintiffs, declined to comment on the motion Monday. He said he wants to review it with counsel and clients first.

The plaintiffs want to keep state agencies from implementing several parts of the bill, mostly those that failed on the House floor or in committee before reappearing in SB2.

Plaintiffs have said each bill should have been considered on its own, and several bills survived only because they were lumped in with popular ones. The bill’s supporters have said the lawsuit is mere political posturing on the part of the plaintiffs, many of whom are running for office this year.

Jensen said the plaintiffs will now have an opportunity to respond to his motion. The motion only addresses two of four counts in the complaint. Jensen said he will address the other two counts later.

What it’s about

–The issue: Whether an omnibus education bill passed by the 2008 Legislature is constitutional.

–What’s new: The Utah Attorney General’s Office has asked a judge to dismiss part of the lawsuit.

–What’s next: Judge Leon Dever will review the matter.

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