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SALT LAKE CITY -- Lawmakers are debating whether to rein in the state transportation agency's ability to make pricey legal settlements without approval from state administrators.
Last fall, KSL News broke the story of the Utah Department of Transportation's $13 million payout to a losing I-15 CORE bidder. Now lawmakers seem anxious to close that loophole.
Fruit Heights Rep. Julie Fisher's new bill sets tight new notification limits. It requires UDOT to gain approval from the state's transportation commission for any settlement of more than $100,000. It would also need the OK of the governor for any deal over $500,000, and the legislative management committee would have to sign off on payouts of more than $1 million.
Fisher says he bill will require more openness. "I'm troubled by it, because I think it's important that we always have transparency," she said Tuesday.
"In perspective of a $1.5 billion contract, it probably doesn't seem like a significant amount," Fisher said, "but it is when it comes to $13 million out of the public purse that we would spend for, perhaps, education or something else."
"I think when people see and understand what we're trying to accomplish, if it doesn't stand the light of day at every one of those steps, we probably shouldn't be doing it," said UDOT Deputy Director Carlos Braceras. "We feel it's actually an improvement to the process."
"I think that we could have dealt with it, in a public relations [perspective], a lot better," said Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville. "If we'd have known, we could have told our constituents, "Yes, $13 million was paid, but the part that didn't get out is we were covering costs that they incurred.' We've done this in other instances, maybe not at that level, but that was the biggest bonding project the state has ever done."
House Bill 34 passed the House Transportation Committee Tuesday on a 12-1 vote.
E-mail: jdaley@ksl.com
