The Utah Legislature had barely convened its 2022 session when Senate leaders made the world safe for hypocrisy.

Yes, hypocrisy.  Say any lofty principle – and then do the opposite and hope the average voters are stupid enough not to notice.

Ask any conservative lawmaker in the legislature how they feel about the federal government interfering in the affairs of a state, and they will fume about Washington, D.C. bureaucrats setting foot in areas best left to the 50 states.  Give him or her another five minutes and he or she will pontificate about “the best government being the one closest to the people.”

Except the Republicans in the Utah Senate don’t really believe it, as shown by their quick passage of a resolution overturning mask mandates issued by individual counties and cities.  Both of the state’s most prominent newspapers condemned the legislators. 

The Deseret News, hardly a tabloid for liberal Democrats, editorialized that the legislators showed “scant respect” for the omicron variant and “scant regard for the wisdom of local government.”  Noting a similar bill, stating that municipalities may not declare a state of emergency in response to an epidemic or another public health emergency, the editors wrote that this approach would stop communities from reacting to “a toxic spill or a fire with hazardous fumes…This bill would remove a tool public office holders can use to protect the public.”

One can point to our state’s ICU beds filling up (about 90% occupied) and that some hospitals are delaying needed treatment for cancer and heart patients.  But the legislative resolution and the proposed bill should be separated from the debate over the protection from masks and vaccines.  (Yes, if you want to trust a real estate developer over a medical doctor, feel free!)

The issue here is not masking but handcuffing the judgement of local leaders elected by those “closest to the people.”  It’s also about refusing to recognize that a particular hazard in one community may well be more serious than in other areas of the state.  I doubt residents of Sanpete or Iron counties relish the idea that Salt Lake lawmakers know better than they do about the challenges and needs of the locals.  So they shouldn’t cheer when the legislature decides it knows what is best for Salt Lake County or Park City.

I have faith that Gov. Spencer Cox understands the hypocrisy. But at this point he has more talent speaking platitudes into a news conference microphone than he has growing a spine.

No wonder I always take a deep breath when the legislature meets – and I don’t exhale until they adjourn.  As usual, the legislators will do some positive things during the session, but don’t think they are guided by principles.  They are too worried about the next election and the strident voices in their party’s caucuses.