From Deseret News archives:
Special session fought over 'technical' details
What were characterized by legislative leaders as technical changes during Wednesday's special session of the Legislature proved to be, while indeed technical, also politically sensitive. Issues decided during the final, late hours of the session included the distribution of $90 million for transportation funding, access for other state departments to state Tax Commission information, and money to help small retailers with the reduction in the state's portion of the sales tax on food.
In the waning hours of the session, legislators fought over how much of the $90 million should go to repairing existing transportation infrastructure — which benefits rural Utah more and was pushed by the Senate — and adding capacity, supported by the House, which primarily helps the quickly growing and more densely populated Wasatch Front. While their differences amounted to no more than $10 million (in an almost $1 billion transportation budget), it took almost three hours to come to a compromise that had to be forced by leadership.
Had the money not been approved, over two dozen road projects planned throughout the state would have been delayed substantially. The last-minute finagling, and a change in what was originally planned to go to different funding sources, caused a one-month delay in allocating money to a fund that will pay for state projects like an environmental study of U-77 in Utah County.
"We are trying to move as quickly as possible, but these are really important decisions," said Carlos Braceras, deputy director of the Utah Department of Transportation. "We wanted to make sure we have time to consider all the different options available."
The state Transportation Commission did approve funding Thursday that will go to several "choke-point" projects throughout the state. These projects are low-cost but high-impact in terms of congestion relief, according to Braceras. The commission also approved $20 million to go to future road corridor preservation.
Other fights by the Senate and House included an extended tug-of-war over House amendments to SB3002 that lasted until almost midnight, despite the characterization by sponsoring Sen. Curtis Bramble, R-Provo, that the changes were "redundant" and "did no harm" to the bill, which would allow fiscal analysts for the Legislature and governor to access state Tax Commission records. In the end, SB3002 passed with most of the amended language intact.
Legislators also passed HB3004, which authorized early distribution of an already appropriated $6 million to help small retailers prepare for the coming 2 percent reduction in the state's share of the sales tax on food and changed some food definitions to account for some inequities between stores and restaurants. They also did so without any threatened changes to the Jan. 1 implementation date in the Senate, despite threats from some senators that eventually proved hollow.
Had the Senate attempted to change the implementation date, House leaders threatened to simply adjourn, a concern because it would have left the small retailers in a bind. Eventually, the Senate passed the bill without amendment, albeit very grudgingly.
E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com
