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SALT LAKE CITY -- Rep. David Clark, Utah's former Speaker of the House, says leadership delayed legislation he sponsored after he changed his vote on HB477 -- the bill that gutted the state's open records law.
At the start of the Utah Legislature's 2011 general session, former Speaker David Clark swore in his replacement: Provo Rep. Becky Lockhart. At the end of the session, lawmakers passed HB477 - a bill sharply limiting access to government records.
Now, Clark says he's "appalled" by what he calls a "rushed" process. "It did meet all of the procedural process, but it was definitely a blitz and fast tracked," he said Friday.
"To have it show up so late in the session," Clark continued, "I think should create, and I think has generated a lot of concerns for a lot of individuals around the state; and I'm certainly expressing those today."
A new Dan Jones poll for KSL and the Deseret News shows 89 percent of Utahns call the process to pass the GRAMA bill "not appropriate;" 8 percent thought it was OK.
Clark said he voted for the bill the first time on the understanding changes would be made in the Senate. He voted against it the second time when changes weren't made to an amended bill.
Then, he says. Lockhart held back his top priority bill, HB84, aimed at creating an inspector general to oversee abuses in Medicaid.
"I went and I spoke with the speaker, asked her why she'd done that," Clark said. "I was told that I was not being as supportive as she thought it needed to be."
HB84 eventually passed, on the last day of the session, only after Clark says he went to the governor to intervene.
KSL News asked to talk to Speaker Lockhart Friday, and we were referred to House Majority Leader Brad Dee. He told us he couldn't speak to Clark's conversation with Lockhart, and he declined to say the process was fast-tracked, saying "some bills are done that way."
Dee also said he doesn't think HB477 should be repealed. "It should be superseded by better legislation that's a compromise," he said.
Sen. Curt Bramble, a close ally of Lockhart's, disputed Clark's view that the delay on HB84 had any connection to Clark's "no" vote on the open records bill.
"As I read HB84, I had concerns shared by the executive branch, specifically about the length of term of the inspector general," Bramble said.
He said the original bill set a six-year term for the post. "The Senate believed six years was too long, and we amended it to a two-year term of office," Bramble said.
"The representation that that bill was somehow being held hostage is not accurate," he continued. "I was the one that raised the concern (about HB84) and there never was discussion of opposition or support of 477." When the bill was amended "we then passed it," Bramble said.
One legislative source, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid getting in the middle of a disagreement between the former and current speakers, told KSL News, "I think there's been an undercurrent of David Clark undermining the speaker -- that's a little more sour grapes from the speaker race."
Clark denied any bad blood from the race, saying he sought a "statesman like" approach the entire session.
Clark says the right thing to do now is hold a special session to recall HB477 next month and create a task force to examine changes in the coming months.
E-mail: jdaley@ksl.com
