Legislators calmly and quietly moved Utah ahead

The 2008 Legislature is over, and its legacy may take some time to work itself out.

In fact, it may be remembered not for what it did but for the side stories.

The 104 part-time legislators met in the beautifully restored state Capitol. The building, brought back to its original internal design and original color schemes, is a real wonder.

Hallways have again been opened up to natural light. Two Senate chamber walls were knocked out to open up that small space, as well.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and many legislators believe that one of the reasons the 2008 session was so mild was that the size and breadth of the Capitol overshadowed rhetoric and debate — leading to more decorum.

Unfortunately, the most publicized event of the last 45 days was Sen. Chris Buttars' great blunder in talking about a black baby, "a dark ugly thing" when debating a school finance bill.

An uproar ensued. The NAACP Utah chapter demanded that Buttars resign. He said no and announced that he'll seek re-election this year.

Some noteworthy events of the session:

• The Utah House Republicans did not hold one closed caucus during the session. As has become tradition, the 55 GOP representa- tives held a daylong closed caucus before the session started to debate and take stands on the budget, taxes and so on.

But once the gavel fell, they went through the whole session without closing their caucus once.

This should be noted, and the public and media alike should praise them for that.

As usual, the Senate GOP caucus closed every one of its caucuses.

The majority party holding an open caucus is not inconsequential. It allows the public and reporters alike to see how the major issues of the session are unfolding. Important information is often revealed at such sessions. And the public and press get a chance to view how issues are resolved.

Kudos to House Republicans. It is a shame that the senators continue to do the public's business behind closed doors.

• This session did see an unfortunate occurrence — the use, for the first time, of so-called "omnibus" bills.