Let the fun begin up on Utah's Capitol Hill

Probably just about every Utahn knows that Republican Jon Huntsman Jr. is Utah's new governor.

But this past week two other state leaders were elected, the two most powerful people in state government after the governor.

And most people would be hard-pressed to name them.

They are newly elected state Senate president John Valentine, a tax attorney from Orem; and newly elected House speaker Greg Curtis, a private-practice attorney from Sandy.

Valentine was picked by the 21-member Republican Senate caucus; Curtis was selected by the 56-member House GOP caucus.

I don't know how many votes either man got in his caucus; those totals are not released. But numbers tell you as few as 10 senators (one must assume Valentine voted for himself) and 23 House members (ditto for Curtis) selected these two men.

True, Valentine and Curtis were put into office by their Senate District 14 and House District 49 constituents. So chalk up another 10,000 or 20,000 votes of citizens there.

But you see my point: Two of the most powerful political leaders in the state were chosen by a distinct minority.

Now, the Senate president and House speaker are not autocrats. By far, most of the decisions made in the 29-member Senate and 75-member House are by majority vote of all members.

But the minority Democrats (who also picked their leaders this week) rarely determine important matters. Especially on budget and tax matters, the GOP caucuses make the main decisions.

Still, the president and speaker — when push comes to shove — have authority over which bills are heard by their bodies, especially in the final hectic days of each 45-day general session.

The rules committees in the House and Senate put bills out for floor votes. The president and speaker appoint the members of those committees. In addition, those bill lists are carefully watched over by the presiding officers in both bodies.

Simply put, while the power may be judiciously used, the speaker and president can stop a bill, or push a bill, as he sees fit.

While this is not the case much any more, the president and speaker can also make sure a million bucks or so goes to projects they hold dear.

I remember one final-night session not so long ago when a former Senate president made sure freeway sound walls in his home county were funded, and a former speaker pushed $1 million to a proposed state golf course in his district.