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Show Matheson pushes Tree Enterprise ' Local Senator Ivan Matheson has reported he is co-sponsoring a joint resolution to give strong direction to the State Board of Education, instructing them to emphasize the principle of free enterprise and teach it as part of the curriculum. The resolution, he said, is separate from the recently defeated House Bill which would require a course on the free enterprise system in high schools as a requisite to graduation. Passed by the House, this bill was defeated in the Senate, he said. "This, I believe, was a tragedy," Matehson said. "Testimony on the bill indicated that teachers in our system neither understand nor believe in the principle of free enterprise by a 53 percent majority. If our teachers don't belive in the system and are teaching our youth against it, we are in a sad plight." Matheson also said he has been appointed by senate leadership to the Western Conference Committee on Agriculture, a group which assembles bi-yearly to discuss the needs of the western states in agriculture. Stiffer regulations and penalties on distribution and showing of pornographic movies and literature in Utah is the end result of another Matheson co-sponsored co-sponsored bill, he said. "I am also pleased to say that we were successful in repealing, virtually, Utah's Inheritance Tax Law. This still faces some stiff challenges and may be recalled before the Senate," Matheson said. "We have also passed a bill allow ing Senior Citizens to enroll in our institutions of higher education at low or no cost depending on the load and occupancy oc-cupancy of various classes, but not allowing the institutions to count them as students during formalities for funding." Matheson said he has introduced in-troduced a bill stripping special improvement district of their power of Eminent Domain laughonty to condemn property ) and also authority to levy taxes. These authorities, he said, would be vested with the city council or county commission who created the district. "This takes condemnation power and taxing power from bureaucrats and leaves that power with those elected officials who must answer to the public," he said. The new ly elected senator said the legislative body also has a bill in process which would require the state to assume responsibility for medical indigents. in-digents. Matheson said this has long been a heavy burden on counties who render area-wide services but is a state wide responsibility. |