As session winds down, it's time for a few answers

Pignanelli & Webb: With a week and a half remaining in the 2006 Legislative session, some questions still need to be answered:

Are Senate and House GOP leaders really at each other's throats?

Pignanelli: In every legislative session there is some mild tension between houses of state government, usually accompanied by good-natured ribbing to and from their members. This year, however, the dramatic difference between the personalities of the two leadership teams (House — energetic but explosive; Senate — deliberative and cautious) has reached a boiling point. Open hostility has moved beyond closed-door meetings and before the public in committee hearings. Veteran politicos cannot recall when emotions were so high and relationships strained.

Webb: Having a lot of money to spend obviously doesn't make for affection and warm feelings. Besides House-Senate rancor, things are also as testy as I've ever seen between the news media and the Legislature, with both sides getting in some personal and angry shots. And with at least one veto looming on an important balance of power issue, the governor could easily be drawn into the slugfest. Hot times on the Hill.

Which is the real "Loyal Opposition": Democrats or the conservative caucus?

Webb: Any time one party has a large majority, as is the case in Utah, it is going to fragment into factions. There has always been a conservative bloc (remember the Cowboy Caucus) that wants lower taxes and less government, and these good folks aren't nearly as dangerous as Democrats.

Pignanelli: Opposition is subjective. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. probably enjoys more support among Democrats than with the conservative caucus. The right-wingers view both the governor and Democrats with a jaundiced eye. LaVarr is correct — Democrats are dangerous because they promote the evils of smaller classrooms, fair taxation and better wages for working families.

Does the Legislature really want to restrict media and public access to government documents (including their e-mails)?

Webb: It's the news media vs. the Legislature, a very interesting clash of values. The news media have the bully pulpit, the ability to communicate their positions widely, but the Legislature gets to make laws. Both kinds of power are a little intoxicating. The news media are taking this issue seriously enough that they have hired a lobbying firm (you guessed it, Pignanelli and partner, Doug Foxley), to help them win the day.

The sponsors of the legislation in question, Rep. Douglas Aagard, and Sen. David Thomas, make some valid points, noting that two constitutional rights are in conflict here, the right of public access to government information, and the right of privacy in relation to personal data gathered by government.