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John Daley ReportingA busy first week on Utah's Capitol Hill ended with some heated debate. Some high-profile bills are moving closer to final passage. On some issues, like smoking in private clubs, a consensus seems to be emerging. On others, like eliminating the sales tax on food, there seems to be plenty of wrangling.
On Utah's Capitol Bill, it's a day of smoke and fire with a Senate bill to ban smoking in more places.
Sen. Michael Waddoups, (R) West Jordan: "Would allow fewer exemptions to the act, specifically taking out the bars, taverns, social clubs."
The proposed smoking ban easily passed in the Senate and moved on to the House.
Also today was a press conference with UHP troopers backing a resolution in support of roadside crosses for those killed in the line of duty, which is facing a separation of church and state legal challenge.
Meantime, a budget battle is brewing. With a surplus, an effort to eliminate the sales tax on food seemed to be moving ahead, but now the Senate may be having cold feet.
Sen. John Valentine, Senate President: "We're not saying no way, but we're being realists at this point. We can't do everything for everybody. We can't fund education at the high levels the governor wants to fund, we can't fund transportation on high levels. We can't do everything for everybody."
Linda Hilton, Director, Coalition of Religious Communities: "Year after year, we watch large corporations get sales tax breaks. Nobody says how much it costs, what the impact is to the state or to the communities, but we bring up one tax break for the citizens of the state of Utah and all of the sudden it's a monetary crisis."
Senate President John Valentine says with present budget and revenue forecasts, there just may not be enough general fund money to go around. This issue could well develop into a showdown between the Senate, the House and the Governor.
