Utah congressmen disclose 2007 finances

WASHINGTON — Little changed for the Utah congressional delegation's overall financial picture in 2007, but Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, did earn slightly less in royalties for his song writing.

The delegation still shows little debt, a lot of investments and assets, and some slight increases in earnings.

By law, Senate and House members must file annual reports listing assets, liabilities and income, as well as sponsored travel and income earned outside of their congressional salaries. The reports require that House members and Senators check off boxes with ranges of their assets and liabilities so specific values are difficult to determine. The highest category is $50 million and above.

Hatch's report comes in the longest, with 49 pages, with his stock trades making up the bulk of the report. Hatch has stock transactions with shares of Nokia, Bank of America, Pfizer, Wachovia, Motorola, Target, Aflac and numerous others. Hatch's report lists almost 260 financial transactions for the senator in 2007.

The Republican earned just over $17,000 in royalties from Prime Recordings Inc., Sony/ATV Music Publishing and other music companies for the songs the senator has written, slight down from the $20,000 he reported last year but also down from the $39,000 he has earned on the music in the past.

He values his assets between $2 million and $5 million, an increase from last year's report of between $1.4 million and $3.4 million.

Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, still has the large assets due to his ownership of Anniversary Inns. The properties put his asset range between $7.7 million and $36 million but real estate loans on the inns make him liable for up to $25 million. His other accounts are worth between $431,007 and $1.3 million.

Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, had a net worth between $2.1 million and $7.5 million, which also is what he reported last year. Canon still lists a loan of between $250,000 and $500,000 to his brother, Joe Cannon, the editor of the Deseret Morning News.

Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, is worth between $500,000 and $1.3 million, including his coin collection worth $1,001 to $15,000, according to the report.

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, did not release his report yet. Members had to file them by May 16 but they are not released to the public until next month.

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E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com