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A lot of Utah state legislators have conflicts of interest with the bills they are supporting.
The Deseret News reports more than half of Utah's 104 lawmakers have bills that could affect their private lives or businesses. They range from a senator/police chief introducing a slew of public safety bills, to the House majority leader with a son lobbying for an ambulance license bill. Also, a lawyer is sponsoring a bill on attorney fees.
The newspaper reports the numbers could be higher because some lawmakers were vague or didn't fill out the required conflict-of-interest update forms.
Some say it's a good thing to bring in personal expertise to bills, but others say there needs to be more disclosure. The Deseret News says conflict-of-interest rules are so vague on Capitol Hill that lawmakers often don't know exactly when they need to declare a conflict, or what to do about it when they do.
Deanna Taylor, with Utah Legislature Watch, says conflicts should be more defined. "If my husband were to run for office, would it be a conflict of interest for him because I'm a teacher? That sort of thing. I think where it really becomes an issue is when someone is benefiting financially from the bills they are introducing," she said.
Taylor would like to see a committee or task force that includes citizens and constituents making things more defined and transparent on the hill.
So far there are only a few bills dealing with conflicts.
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
