Utah frugal as host of '04 convention

Beer and wine were not served, however, at the opening social event. That reception was alcohol-free because it was held on the then-new Capitol plaza. And by rule, the Capitol grounds are liquor-free. Later that night, the 4,400-plus attendees (fewer came than were expected) went to a concert on Temple Square by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, a show that had many of the legislators from around the country talking about it for days.

The drinks were actually served at the final night's event — an ice skating/dinner party at the Olympic Oval. The closing social event was the largest single expense, costing $218,081, which included $20,000 to Q Sport to bring in some Olympic athletes to serve as the night's entertainment at the Oval.

Government watchdog groups complained last year about legislators raising so much money from groups that could have an interest in legislative action, especially when the Legislature's NCSL Planning Committee met with some big firms during the 2004 general session, asking for cash.

In the end, legislative leaders decided lawmakers themselves weren't doing a good enough job asking locals for cash, so they hired a professional fund-raiser. The Marriott Group and the Woodland-Hammond Group were paid around $46,000 for fund-raising, the report says.

Some of the firms giving money for the convention probably won't have any direct action with the Utah Legislature soon. But others certainly do. (See chart.)

For example, Zions Bank gave $25,000. And almost each year local banks, led by Zion executives, do battle with nonprofit credit unions in the Legislature.

Intermountain Health Care has been fighting critics who want to somehow tax the large nonprofit health-care provider. It gave $10,000.

And a special legislative tax reform task force is currently considering giving the Intermountain Power Agency and PacifiCorp a tax break that would save the two large firms around $13 million a year (although both firms say they didn't ask for the tax break). Together, Utah's largest electrical producers gave $60,000.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints actually provided more than its listed $20,000 in cash. Besides having the choir give a private concert in the Tabernacle (no dollar amount was listed for that in-kind contribution), the church-owned Deseret Book gave a discount of $10,000 for CDs of the choir, presented as the official convention gifts to legislators and guests.

In the late 1980s, the Legislature hosted a much smaller national convention for another government association it belongs to. Legislative leaders asked local lobbyists to round up some contributions, and in the end leaders had $50,000 more than they spent hosting the group. They socked the money away, using a bit of it over the years for lunches, dinners and other special events. That account provided seed money for the NCSL effort, leaders said.

Legislative Fiscal Analyst Assistant Deputy Director Mark Bleazard says the Legislature started the NCSL effort with around $100,000 in that special account, and ends it with $53,500.

Knudson says legislators were able to place back in a former account some monies used as "start-up" cash for the NCSL convention.

"Basically, we broke even. It was a wonderful experience" and the Legislature may try to host some other large convention some day, he says.

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E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com