Debate on credit union bill gets bogged down by procedural points

Utah House members didn't think they'd spend parts of two floor sessions arguing arcane procedural points on the bank and credit union battle. But they struggled again with HJR1 for a half-hour Wednesday morning.

This time representatives fought over whether a "minority report" written by anti-HJR1 legislators should be part of the official House journal. In the end, they voted to exclude the minority report.

The minority report "should never have been read in (read out loud by the docket clerk) in the first place," said House Majority Leader Jeff Alexander, R-Provo, sponsor of HJR1. House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, said there had never been a minority report from a committee that he could recall in his decade in the House.

However, House clerical staff said later Wednesday that minority reports had been read in before, although it was rare, and reading them aloud by the clerk was appropriate.

After minutes of confusing debate, Curtis said he couldn't wait to get rid of HJR1 by passing or killing it so the House could get on with other business. HJR1, which calls on Congress to give direction on whether large credit unions can be taxed on their "profits" will be debated on its merits in the next few days.