Last week, the Legislature used their emergency powers for an “alleged” emergency to restrict the rights of the people. What was the “emergency?” Supposedly, there are dozens of ballot initiatives waiting to be filed in Utah and millions of dollars of foreign money about to flood into the State to support these initiatives. At least, that was the “sky is falling” scare tactic. I’ve asked legislators to give me specific examples of these scary situations. They promised they would get back to me. I’m still waiting for my phone to ring. Legislative leaders also tried to imply that with the Supreme Court’s ruling, the Court has created “super laws” that take precedence over all laws and can’t be touched by the Legislature. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Legislature can always improve or update a citizen passed initiative assuming that the original intent of the initiative is preserved and protected. What the Legislature should not do is write laws that overwrite and/or try to repeal a citizen initiative. The Legislature also created a carrot by extending the time to gather signatures but this is really a fake positive as any well organized and motivated group of citizens can typically meet the signature gathering deadline. Legislative leaders are trying to sugarcoat what they have done by saying passage of the amendment would return things “back to normal” before the Supreme Court ruling. Don’t be fooled. The actions of the Legislature are a pure power grab to restrict our rights and repeal any citizen initiative that they feel is not worthy. The power has always been and should remain with the people. Vote “NO” on this constitutional amendment.