Curtis wants to halt work on garage

House Speaker Greg Curtis said Wednesday he wants work halted on the controversial $10 million parking garage at the state Capitol until the 2007 Legislature meets in January.

Curtis told fellow members of the Capitol Preservation Board he was concerned about financial fallout from continuing construction on the multilevel underground garage even though it narrowly won approval during a special session of the Legislature in May.

"It was a very hotly contested issue in the House," the Sandy Republican said, warning that the slim majority that voted for the garage may be lost as a result of the expected turnover from the November elections.

"What happens if there are not 38 votes in January to spend the money?" Curtis asked, urging work be stopped now to ensure the ongoing $200 million-plus Capitol renovation isn't affected.

The board, which counts Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert and Attorney General Mark Shurtleff among its members, appeared caught off-guard by Curtis' request. Because it was not on the board's agenda, no action could be taken.

Curtis said there's a problem because lawmakers did not appropriate money for the multilevel underground garage in the special session. Instead, they merely authorized spending a total of $15 million on it and another parking project from money already allocated to the massive Capitol renovation set for completion late next year.

That means unless they come up with another $15 million toward the Capitol renovation next session, the project to restore and earthquake-proof the historic structure faces a shortfall.

Waiting until January will give lawmakers a chance to approve funding for the garage itself, Curtis said, and alleviate what he described as their consternation over having been asked to commit to future spending for this and other needs.

"We've gone into a pattern of now committing next year's budget through resolutions, discussions, letters," the House speaker said, on top of spending a record $1 billion in extra revenues last session.

The bad feelings that created among House members, Curtis said, "are deeper than just the parking garage."

Another board member, Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, said after the meeting the Senate would not support stopping construction. "The Senate really felt like it made economic sense for Utah to do it now," Valentine said.

There's been plenty of political backlash from the decision by lawmakers to go ahead with the garage during the same special session where they rejected Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s push for $2 million to pay for emergency dental care for the poor and disabled.