Utah poised to OK a Real deal

The last vote could come as soon as today on a bill Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said must be passed by Friday to keep the Real Salt Lake soccer team from leaving Utah.

It took two tries Tuesday — and a hastily called, closed-door caucus among majority Republicans — to get final approval from the Senate on HB38. The bill still must be approved again by the House because it was amended in the Senate.

Lawmakers have little time to waste. Huntsman told the Deseret Morning News last week and stressed again in a press release issued Tuesday that the deal had to be done by Friday or face losing the team.

"Gov. Huntsman was very pleased with the solid support soccer received in the Senate," his spokesman, Mike Mower, said, adding that the governor "is optimistic that the soccer stadium funding proposal will be well-received by the Utah House."

Huntsman, who warned that the team would be headed to St. Louis or even Philadelphia if the Friday deadline weren't met, is ready to sign the bill as soon as it passes the House, Mower said.

Real officials had no comment Tuesday on the bill, which would enable the team to construct a stadium in Sandy. Team owner Dave Checketts was in St. Louis Tuesday, talking to a prospective buyer about purchasing the team.

The Senate initially balked at giving final approval to the bill after amending it, suggesting they might want to make further changes. But Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, instead called a caucus meeting of Senate Republicans.

Senators came back about a half-hour later and passed it by a vote of 20-8-1, after several senators made statements in support of the bill. One complained that lawmakers were being asked to act too quickly.

The Senate sponsor, Sen. Sheldon Killpack, R-Syracuse, said the $35 million needed would come from hotel-room taxes largely paid by visitors. "I just have a hard time seeing that as a negative thing," Killpack said.

Sen. Mike Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, said, "the agreement is the best that can be reached" and lawmakers "have to put some faith in our county leaders, our governor and those people who have negotiated the deal that's before us."

But Sen. Ross Romero, D-Salt Lake, said said he was "frustrated this is coming so fast" and that the soccer deal wasn't the best use of the hotel taxes. "This is very important money we're dealing with," he said, money perhaps better spent on a stadium at the Utah State Fairpark.