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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah lawmakers will hold a veto override session Wednesday to reconsider bills giving the legislative branch more power that Gov. Gary Herbert nixed after the 2018 Legislature.
SB171 allowed the Legislature to intervene in lawsuits filed against the state and allocates $700,000 a year for three new attorneys, a paralegal and a legal secretary. HB198 required the Utah Attorney General's Office to provide legal opinions to lawmakers upon request.
The legislation stems from the fight lawmakers had with Herbert last year over how to conduct the special election to replace former U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah. They butted heads over a legal opinion on the issue legislative leaders sought from the attorney general who refused to turn it over, citing the governor as his client.
The governor's office called the two measures unprecedented and said they strain the constitutional balance between the branches of state government.
