From Deseret News archives:
House members argue early about credit unions
A confused episode over parliamentary procedure Wednesday bled into another Utah House tussle Thursday, building up to what is expected to be the first full House debate on HJR1, "A Joint Resolution Related to Financial Institutions," this morning.
The resolution, which addresses equity and taxation issues relating to credit unions, was passed by the House Business and Labor Standing Committee earlier in the week — though not unanimously. In a rare move, the committee's three dissenting members — Reps. Jackie Biskupski, D-Salt Lake; Neil Hansen, D-Ogden; and Carl Duckworth, D-Magna — asked to attach their "minority report" to the committee's report.
Confusion erupted Wednesday after the report was read aloud, airing the dissenting members' concerns with the Financial Institutions Task Force, where the resolution originated. Eventually, the minority report was attached to the Business and Labor Committee's report, and a group assembled to clarify how minority reports will be handled in the future.
However, Wednesday's confusion became Thursday's frustration, after Rep. Ron Bigelow, R-West Valley, made a motion to reconsider the House's action.
"I believe in our process," Bigelow argued. "It is clear to me, based on the comments that were made (Wednesday), that there was confusion. And in my opinion, there was a stifling of debate because we adopted the report without giving some members of that committee an opportunity to add an opposing viewpoint.
"If we made a mistake, and you say 'That's OK, I don't mind making mistakes. Let's leave it the way it was,' then great. Vote against this vote," he said. "But if you think we should go back and do it correctly, and give everyone the opportunity to participate in the process, right from the start, now that we understand it, and if we wait until we get a final report from our parliamentarian and our staff, that's great. We can take that time, and do it right."
Opponents to the motion argued that bringing the issue back would serve only to further complicate and confuse an already tangled affair.
"This issue is a hotly debated issue for us," said Minority Leader Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake. "We've dealt with it. If we reconsider, send it to the committee, bring it back to the floor, we're going to have a whole (different) debate on something we've already done. Hopefully, from this point forward, the group will come forward and we'll come to some consensus about how to address minority reports. But to reconsider this whole issue again as it relates to what was done yesterday, I think is just going to further a debate that I'm not sure any of us wants to go through again."
Bigelow's motion was defeated, and actual debate on HJR1 is expected to commence this morning.
E-mail: jnii@desnews.com
