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Richard Piatt ReportingThe 2006 Utah Legislature is starting to get tense on a number of different fronts. Taking the front seat today was money. In fact, lawmakers have so much to talk about, even fight about, money-wise, that today the House put everything else on hold for an hour to sort things out.
This is over a deal with the Senate that isn't going as House leadership thinks it should. In the middle of the day, the House chamber was empty, a last-minute caucus drew everyone away to a room guarded by capitol security. It's all over a deal to set aside 300-million dollars from the surplus for tax cuts, water and road projects. But there are sharp differences about how much to set aside for each.
Rep. Steve Urquhart, House Majority Whip: "Apparently the senate wants to do spending on priorities and then save later. We know the problem is we won't save anything. We won't have tax cuts, we won't have money for transportation."
Sen. Dan Eastman, Senate Majority Whip: "Our agreement as a caucus was a 100 million dollars tax cut, not a 230 million dollar tax cut. We'd like to have some money to fund the priorities from the appropriations committees."
A priority for the House is removing the sales tax on food. It's not a priority for the Senate.
Emotions are also high elsewhere in the Capitol and this afternoon there are several examples of issues bringing that out. A house version of the Gay Clubs ban-bill, one that also requires parents to get involved, is in committee today. So is a bill that would let you freeze your own credit report to protect your identity. The industry doesn't like the bill, and will try to kill it today.
Also, we expect a final decision on the bill to allow people to carry a loaded gun in their car or truck this afternoon. Now is the time when people are sensing a 'do or die' situation on these and many other issues. And so, in general, it is tense at the Capitol right now.
