Herbert calls off special session, puts off immigration discussion

SALT LAKE CITY — Gov. Gary Herbert's decision to call off a special session to soften recent immigration legislation may well be a smart political move in an election year.

The governor's desire to amend a bill requiring businesses to verify the status of employees would have likely faced resistance from conservative lawmakers who want to take a tougher stand against illegal immigrants.

And the session may have sparked more interest in following Arizona's controversial new law requiring people to produce papers proving their legal status upon request, a law that already is costing that state tourism and convention business.

"It looked like there was no upside and a very real potential of a downside, so why even go there?" said Kirk Jowers, director of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics and an adviser to Herbert.

Jowers said it's been clear for some time that the session could backfire on the governor.

"The moment Arizona passed their law, it became quite clear the issue became far too volatile to deal with in a special session," he said.

Herbert's spokeswoman, Angie Welling, said the special session was scrapped because it wasn't "the right venue to take on something as complex" as immigration reform, especially since the same business leaders who wanted the Utah bill watered down are worried about what would happen in a special session. Welling said they now agree the existing bill is clear enough.

"The governor's decision was not a political one; it was a practical one," Welling said.

She said the state is better served by taking "time to have a thoughtful and deliberative conversation on the issue of immigration reform in Utah."

But Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon, Herbert's Democratic challenger in November's special election for the remainder of former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s term, questioned the governor's decision.

"I certainly think it shows a lack of leadership," Corroon said. "I can't read his mind, but if you say you're going to do something, you should do it. That's what his move tells me, that he can't control the Legislature."

Corroon said Herbert should have vetoed the bill, which called for business to verify the legal status of employees, because it creates a burden on small businesses.

"The executive branch needs to be a strong voice in state government," the mayor said. "It sounds to me like he's abdicating that voice."