Session was mostly good

The legislative session that ended Wednesday night was one of the smoothest-running ones in recent memory. A large amount of credit is probably due to the influx of tax revenue that signaled an end to Utah's economic hard times — money that allowed lawmakers and the governor to work out differences and keep competing priorities from getting in the way.

Some credit also is due Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., whose low public profile during the session avoided messy public confrontations. No doubt it helped matters simply to have a new person in the state's highest office, and especially one who doesn't ruffle the ideological feathers of right-wing Republicans the way Mike Leavitt sometimes did.

But a great deal of credit must be due to new legislative leadership, Speaker Greg Curtis in the House and President John Valentine in the Senate. Every session attracts its share of nutty bills that are filed either to send a message to a person or group or because they reflect the extremist, ill-informed assumptions of a particular lawmaker. Too often one or more of these ends up attracting attention and taking up valuable time.

This year, leadership seemed adept at ushering those bills into the shadows where they could die quietly. They also did an admirable job of steering controversial-but-legitimate bills. Many of these will be studied between now and the 2006 session, which may produce some meaningful compromises or solutions. The largest of these was the debate over Intermountain Health Care and its tax-exempt status. That ended with the creation of a joint House-Senate task force that will take two years to study the matter in-depth. It was the only meaningful way to handle a debate that seemed driven more by emotion than fact.

To be sure, the 2005 Legislature produced its share of both successes and disappointments, just as could be said of any other session. The successes include a bill that outlaws the use of municipal redevelopment agencies to build stadiums or arenas — a direct blow to efforts by Salt Lake City and Murray to use public funds to build a stadium for Real Salt Lake, the state's new franchise in Major League Soccer. Lawmakers recognized the inappropriateness of using taxpayer dollars for such ventures. They also imposed a one-year moratorium on any new RDAs to fund retail projects.

Lawmakers also passed the Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarships, which will provide vouchers for the parents of severely handicapped children whose needs cannot be met by public schools.