Bill prompted by Swallow consulting work passes House

SALT LAKE CITY — A bill aimed at stopping political appointees in the state's elected executive offices, including the attorney general's office, was approved Tuesday by the House.

SB83, sponsored by Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, was amended in the House to make sure the appointees aren't compensated for providing consulting and other services to state agencies that would fall under their job descriptions.

The Senate later concurred with the amendment and the bill now goes to Gov. Gary Herbert for his action. Herbert has said he already has a similar policy in place in his office and supports barring outside employment in other elected executive offices.

The bill was prompted by Utah Attorney General John Swallow's outside consulting work. The attorney general, who is under federal investigation, received $23,500 for working as a consultant on a cement plant project in Nevada while he was chief deputy attorney general.

SB83 would restrict outside employment for appointees in the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, treasurer and auditor, as well as attorney general. Outside employment is already prohibited for rank-and-file employees of those offices.

Appointees would be subject to the same restrictions on outside employment as career service employees, as well as barred from work that constitutes a conflict of interest or is related to providing political services, consulting or lobbying.

— Lisa Riley Roche

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