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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Legislature lumbered toward adjournment by debating dozens of bills, including important measures to deliver a much promised tax cut for citizens -- and passing bills to ban smoking in private clubs and let judges impose tougher sentences for hate crimes.
The 45-day annual session ends at midnight Wednesday.
The 2006 session was punctuated by squabbles between the House and Senate over tax changes that slowed action in both chambers on other measures, leaving much work to be done at the end.
Five days ago, legislators and Gov. Jon Huntsman made a big show of announcing a budget deal that was to include $160 million in tax cuts that would reduce the state's top 7-percent income tax rate, knock two percentage points off the sales tax on store-bought food and hand incentives to businesses.
But as they approached a dinner break Wednesday evening, it was uncertain which of those proposals the Legislature would approve.
Unlike 2005, when the new governor's presence was barely felt, Huntsman was a vocal participant in this year's proceedings. He weighed in heavily on his preference for removing the sales tax on food and fired warning shots about bills he might veto.
On Tuesday, Huntsman vetoed a bill that would have allowed the Legislature to override his disapproval of radioactive waste sites.
The bill was returned to the Senate, which voted 21-8 to override the veto.
But House Speaker Greg Curtis said he was not inclined to spend time on an override vote. The bill had passed the House with less than a veto-proof majority.
Many of the bills proposed this year reflect the conservative nature of the Republican-dominated Legislature and had a whiff of election-year politics.
On Wednesday, they approved a measure requiring girls under 18 to get a parent's consent for an abortion. Another bill requiring doctors to tell women seeking abortions that a fetus could feel the pain -- a statement in dispute within the medical profession -- passed the House easily, but died quietly in the Senate amid concerns it might force doctors to administer pain medication for a fetus.
Lawmakers also killed a bill that would have required teachers to tell students about alternatives to Darwin's theory of evolution. Bill sponsor Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, said schools are undermining students' religious leanings by teaching that man is descended from apes.
The bill passed the Senate but was gutted by the House, where it then failed to secure enough votes for passage.
The House and Senate also finally agreed over whether to ban smoking in private clubs. They passed a bill to make all five classifications of clubs smoke free, although the amended bill gives some establishments nearly three years to make the change.
And in what one senator called "a historic vote," a hate crimes bill, eight years in the making got the unanimous approval of the Senate on Wednesday. The bill allows judges and the board of pardons to consider the ripple effect some crimes have on a community as an aggravating factor in sentencing or when considering an inmate for parole.
Although there was much debate about the cozy relationship between lawmakers and lobbyists, none of five reform measures ever got close to passing, dying in committees.
One ethics bill did pass, however -- for dentists. Senate Bill 108 prohibits dentists from making unsubstantiated claims in advertising of special skills. Sponsored by an orthodontist, Senate Majority Leader Peter Knudson, the bill passed without a dissenting vote in either body.
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On the Net: Utah Legislature: http://www.le.state.ut.us/
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
