A proposed Sunday closing law was introduced into the Utah Legislature during the past week.
Sponsored by Senators Reed Bullen (R-Logan) and Robert F. Clyde (R-Heber), the bill would require many Utah businesses to close on Sundays. It reportedly is aimed mainly at grocery stores.
Exempted from the measure would he such businesses as restaurants, pharmacies, confectionaries, service stations and a list of recreational facilities.
Sunday closing laws are not new to the Utah Legislature. In fact, such proposed legislation seams to find itself in the legislative hopper with quite consistent regularity.
In 1959 a Sunday closing law passed both houses-but was vetoed by than Gov. George D. Clyde.
At that time the Herald supported Governor Clyde in his action. We still believe that a Sunday closing law is not needed in Utah, and that the problems and confusion such a law would cause would far outweigh any good that could be accomplished.
There are some who claim Sunday closing laws may be unconstitutional. This probably would need to be rested with each specific law. But there can be little question that a, law is discriminatory which keeps some businesses closed while allowing others to operate; and which allows sale of some commodities while barring others.
Provo City had some experience with a Sunday closing law about a dozen years ago. During its brief tenure it created all sorts of problems and the city commission soon rescinded it.
While the 1967 version introduced into the Legislature undoubtedly is refined somewhat from previous legislation offered, it is too much to expect that it could overcome all the inequities inherent in this type of law.
And even if this were possible, there would still be the problem of enforcement. One of Governor Clyde’s objections, as we recall, was that enforcement of the proposed Sunday closing law would be next to impossible. If a law cannot be enforced it is of questionable value.
The Herald’s contention on Sunday closing is that it should be voluntary and cooperative, not legislated.
We see little quarrel with the way the matter is handled here in Utah Valley, with grocery stores generally closed by agreement and the drug shores carrying out a cooperative program under which a designated store is open each Sunday on a rotation basis to provide for the public’s needs while the others observe the sabbath.
The business houses and public-minded citizens who worked with them to bring about the cooperative arrangement are to be complimented for their efforts in handling a ticklish problem on a voluntary basis and in a manner well-received by the public.
We believe that if members of the Utah Legislature will consider the experience in this valley and weigh the results of voluntary closing against the pitfalls and problems of Sunday closing by law, they will vote to defeat this new bill.