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Sam Penrod reporting The 2005 legislative session gets underway today with new leadership. Lawmakers are also set up in a new, but temporary home.
So far, it has been a day of ceremony, as lawmakers kick off their 45 day session.
This morning, both chambers of the Senate and House began the session by swearing in new members.
Lawmakers are in their tight temporary locations for the next couple of years, while the Capitol building itself is renovated.
Longtime Speaker of the House Marty Stevens stepped down, and then handed the gavel over to new Speaker Greg Curtis. Curtus called on House members to do their best in serving the citizens of Utah.
Greg Curtis, (R) Speaker of the House: “The symbolism of the Capitol will be restored in a couple of years. Let us recommit today, to begin anew, the substance of our democracy.”
There was a similar ceremony in the Senate Chambers, as John Valentine took the reigns as the new Senate President, replacing Al Mansell as the leader of the Senate.
Lawmakers will really begin their work tomorrow, but will have a field trip to Fillmore tomorrow night, as Governor Huntsman will give his state of the state address at the Territorial Statehouse. We will bring that to you tomorrow at 6:30 live right here on Channel Five.
