Action Alert

* Three bills now before the Utah Legislature deal with use of money that is dedicated to public schools for legal action against the federal government.
 
  Please ask your Representative to oppose HB 323 and HB 324.
Ask your Senator to oppose HB 143.
 

HB143, Eminent Domain Authority , authorizes the state to exercise eminent domain authority on property possessed by the federal government.  It has just passed the House and has no fiscal note other than the advice that there could be legal costs because the legislative review note questions its constitutionality.

HB323, School and Institutional Trust Lands Amendments , appropriates a total of $3 million over 3 years from the Land Grant Management Fund to the Office of the Attorney General to fund the legal  challenge.
 
HB324, Public Lands Litigation, directs the attorney general to file certain eminent domain actions  to facilitate the state's ability to manage school and institutional trust lands

The Legislative Review Note on HB323 states, "..the state has no standing as sovereign to exercise eminent domain or assert any other state law that is contrary to federal law on land or property that the federal government holds under the Property Clause."
 
The League feels that use of funds that are set aside for public education to fund legal action that carries warnings by the Legislature's analysts is not a wise use of resources in this tight budget year.  

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