NAACP gears up for a tough task

A resolution to change the start date of the Utah legislative session from the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday received unanimous support from both the House and Senate.

But advocates for the change still have plenty of work ahead, because the measure requires amending the state's Constitution through voter approval.

Jeanetta Williams, president of the Salt Lake Branch of the NAACP, said she's already looking ahead to November 2008 when voters will make the final decision.

"It's not going to be an easy task," Williams said. "The Legislature did give it unanimous support. ... That makes a big difference."

For the next 18 months, Williams will have her work cut out for her to keep the momentum going, but she said the NAACP is ready.

"We will be making sure we get information out," Williams said. "Billboards, pamphlets, whatever it might take."

The resolution would move the legislative session's start date a week from the civil rights holiday to the fourth Monday in January. It also would exclude Presidents Day from the session's 45-day count, along with any future federal holiday that might be designated.

After years of contesting the Utah Legislature's starting on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Williams praised lawmakers for giving their support to the proposed change.

The idea of changing the session's start date has met with contention in the past. A similar resolution stalled in 2000, the same year lawmakers gave state recognition to Martin Luther King Jr. Day by changing the name of Human Rights Day.

This year, leaders of the House and Senate held a joint press conference to announce their support for the resolution, originally sponsored by Minority Leader Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake. Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, took on sponsorship of the resolution, along with House Speaker Greg J. Curtis, R-Sandy.

Valentine, who has supported meeting on the holiday in the past as a way to honor King's legacy, said this year he changed his perspective.

"I looked at it through the eyes of someone who thought we should not have the Legislature meeting on that day," Valentine said. "It seemed to be a rational response to the concern people had."

Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, said the change would also be an advantage from a budgeting standpoint because lawmakers would have more time to "wade through" budget forecasts. Budgeting has historically been complicated because revenue estimates came so late in the session.

"It's exactly what we wanted, an extra week at the end of the session," Hillyard said. "You cannot believe the pressure we are under."

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com