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Show Sfatehouse Report Gateway Amendment Held Best For Orderly Law Preparation By. C. SHARP More and more groups are rallying to support of the Gateway Amendment which would permit simplified simp-lified procedure in amending amend-ing the state's constituj tion. The Legislative Council composed of 16 legislators, Sept. 23 went on record favoring the amendment which is one of three to be voted upon by the people peo-ple Nov. 3 On Sept 24, members of the Women's Legislative Council after hearing two discussions on the amendment amend-ment and studying the proposition pro-position many months voted 117 in favor and 32 against Gateway. Prof. Arvo Van Alstyne of the University of Utah College of Law and consultant consul-tant to Utahns for Effective Effect-ive Government (UTEGO) told the women that Utah's Constitution is one of the longest in the country. Lengthy Document "The state constitution is many times longer than the U. S. Constitution, yet the state government is relatively re-latively simple compared with the federal government," govern-ment," he said. As a result, the state's constitution is so detailed that many references to a single proposition would have to be amended to effect ef-fect a single orderly change, he said. He referred particularly particular-ly to Article XI, Section 4, which says "The Legislature Legislat-ure shall establish a system sys-tem of county government which shall be uniform throughout the state and by general laws shall provide pro-vide for precinct and township town-ship organization." Van Alstyne and UTEGO are sponsoring with other groups a proposed new amendment am-endment which would permit per-mit a different organization organiza-tion for Salt Lake County than for smaller counties some of which have fewer people than a single town in Salt Lake County. Many Amendments Unless the Gateway Amendment Am-endment is approved by voters it may require many amendments to permit such divergence in county organization. or-ganization. Should some of the amendments am-endments to permit consolidation con-solidation and contracting of servces to mutual advantage ad-vantage be defeated and some approved, the result can be total confusion, Van Alstyne said. Gateway would permit lumping of provisions germane ger-mane to a single proposition proposi-tion in a single amendment. amend-ment. Jack Crellin, city attorney attor-ney for Salt Lake City, spoke against Gateway. ; "Unobserved Deletions" He joined with the Utah . League of Cities and Towns in holding that Gateway "permits massive and complex com-plex changes to be proposed propos-ed in a single amendment which would carry unobserved unob-served deletions of constitutional consti-tutional shelters which pro" tect us from infringements upon the integrity and independence in-dependence of local governments." gov-ernments." Any new amendment would continue to have a two - thirds vote by both houses of the Legislature plus affirmative vote by a majority of voters at a general election which follows fol-lows advertising and airing air-ing of the proposal. The other two amendments amend-ments to be voted upon Nov. 3 won almost unanimous unani-mous support of the Legislative Leg-islative Council Sept. 3. One lowers the residency residen-cy requirement for voters to six months in the state and 60 days in the county. coun-ty. The other permits tying ty-ing state income tax laws to federal income tax laws. Preaches Economy Lewis H. Lloyd, council director, said this would result in simplified filing by taxpayers and new economies ec-onomies in administration. Actual rates and details of proposed income tax schedules would be fixed by the Legislature. tl2 .. Gov. Calvin L. Rampton's Local Affairs Council, Sept. 25 agreed to ask the governor to appoint Ralph J. Miller, chairman of the Grand County Commission, to the governor's committee commit-tee to make recommendations recommenda-tions on 1-70. Chairman Marion Hazel-ton Hazel-ton of the San Juan County Commission told the council coun-cil that Grand County has no representative on the comtnittee, although Emery Em-ery County has two members. mem-bers. Maroon Thompson? Residents of Thompson are alarmed at possibility that their community will be "marooned" by a proposed propos-ed new location of 1-70, Hazelton said. The committee is preparing prepar-ing recommendations for commercial sites, policy for commercial developments, develop-ments, recreational sites, and zoning regulations along 1-70. A two-lane section westward west-ward from Green River over ov-er the scenic San Rafael Swell to Fremont Junction is due to be opened to traffic traf-fic late this year. |