This is actually a big change and it reflects the growing need for sophistication and professionalism in the legislative branch. If we want our Legislature to remain part-time, we need to give lawmakers the tools they need to do the job so they can have lives outside of politics. This move makes sense on a lot of levels.

Pignanelli: Utah is governed by a quasi-parliamentary form of democracy where the party leaders of the legislative body conduct many of the duties and activities that are the prerogative of the governor in other states (Speaker Curtis and Senate President John Valentine serve as co-prime ministers). Other important policy directives and initiatives for the state are directed jointly between the governor and the Legislature. This change in governance — from the traditional structure we all know — occurred not through constitutional amendments, but is a result of a bloodless and quiet coup d'etat initiated by House Speaker Mel Brown in 1995. By the late 1990s, Brown and other legislative leaders contained the power of Gov. Michael Leavitt, and effectively eliminated his influence in actions that had been the privilege of the executive branch since statehood.

Their actions ranged from a complete disregard of the Governor's Budget during session deliberations to the removal of exclusive gubernatorial supervision over buildings on Capitol Hill. Frustrated that legislators were in the driver's seat, Governor Olene Walker made an attempt to regain control, but she did not possess the time needed for the undertaking. Veteran observers of Utah politics are anxious to witness what role Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. will construct for the office. Will he launch his own coup to regain the powers of the pre-Leavitt predecessors, or maintain the coalition pact with legislators

Because of the dynamic between the Legislature and governors office, the decision by Curtis to hire a full-time chief of staff with political power (current legislative staff only performs pure administrative functions) is a stroke of brilliance. LaVarr explains that demands upon the speaker's personal life as rationale for the restructuring, but the political benefits to GOP legislators are enormous.

During the transformation of our state government, the governor retained the longtime advantage that he and his political advisers were full-time, and part-time legislators scrambled to maintain parity. (Gov. Norman Bangerter was fond of castigating uppity lawmakers with "I am here every day and you're not!").