Winds of change at Capitol

Talk about a sea change. In recent days, Utah lawmakers selected new leadership — and adopted a refreshing new attitude.

Here's what happened: Rep. Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara, ran unopposed to succeed Greg Curtis as speaker of the House after Curtis lost his re-election bid in House District 49 to Democratic challenger Jay Seegmiller.

In the Senate, Mike Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, was selected by legislative colleagues to succeed John Valentine as Senate president. Among Democrats, Sen. Pat Jones, D-Holladay, was voted the first-ever female Senate minority leader.

It is hoped that new leadership will set the stage for civil and thoughtful lawmaking. The upcoming general session may be one of the most challenging in years due to shrinking state tax revenues, a rocky national economy and difficult issues such as immigration and health-care reform.

In one of his first official acts as House speaker, Clark unveiled an ambitious legislative reform package. His proposals would ban most gifts to lawmakers and reform the Legislature's ethics investigation procedures. Clark's proposals suggest a welcome change in perspective from past legislative leaders on this issue.

Lawmakers should do all they can to protect the integrity of the legislative process. Clear limits and rules help to do that. While the Deseret News has long championed a legislative gift ban and other measures, Clark's proposals are a good jumping-off point for this debate. His initiative is to be applauded.

Clark and Waddoups inherit the reins of the House and Senate, respectively, during difficult economic conditions. Instead of dealing with sizable revenue surpluses, they will be overseeing budget cuts.

The Legislature must also address the issue of illegal immigration. In the 2008 general session, lawmakers passed a law that creates barriers against undocumented immigrants finding jobs or accessing public benefits and creates immigration enforcement roles at state and local levels. The law would not go into effect until July 2009, which means lawmakers have an opportunity to roll back some of the more punitive and unworkable components of the legislation.

We hope the election of these new leaders will renew lawmakers' collective commitment to give their highest priority to serving the best interests of their constituents and the state of Utah. We congratulate these new leaders, wish them well in their labors and thank their predecessors for years of dedicated service.