Welcome to The Senate Site

By John Valentine
President of the Utah Senate

As usual, Rolly's Sunday column contained trace elements of truth. But it’s often difficult to separate those useful elements from inert gas. Maybe this will help.

This session my friend Greg Curtis, the Speaker of the House, has done some remarkable things he can be proud of.

One of the reasons he has experienced better success this year is that he has been kinder and gentler. Smarter. And I believe he has inspired others in that direction. This is significant to our body because it allows a more deliberative, careful discussion of the policy merits.

Another reason for his success is that he has chosen his battles carefully. Vouchers… the Senate has been on board for years. Greg was the lynchpin of a team that got it done in the House. Soccer... key players agreed with Governor Huntsman that it would be better for Utah to keep our pro team.

Removing the sales tax from food is not a battle we are going to fight in the next 10 days - chiefly because the Speaker gave us his word he was not going to push it this year. (That does not mean we can’t do some work on a more uniform statewide rate on food or maybe reduce the general sales tax rate – we like cutting taxes where appropriate). Whatever else people may think of Greg Curtis, our experience has been that he keeps his commitments.

Senate priorities, like Utah Valley University and DORA, win solid support on their own merits. They are good policy. Call us crazy, but we don’t believe House leadership has been playing games with these two bills. The only thing they need to succeed is a level playing field and the support of key players who believe in the policies.

Everyone benefits when legislative politics look more like a boardroom and less like a pep rally. This year’s legislative session, so far, is something Utah citizens can be proud of and we give the Speaker due credit for his share in that development.

2 Comments:

 Anonymous said...

The Speaker's positive work on vouchers offsets his negative work on the soccer stadium.

Fifty years from now, no one will care that the state wasted perfectly good money on a soccer stadium, but they will thank Curtis for pushing vouchers through. Of course, the Senate was always there. Thank you.

Speaking of the soccer stadium, we should start developing contingency plans if and when MLS and/or RSL folds.

I would like to propose the option of turning it into a reservoir. Seal the exits and fill it up with water. Or turn it into an aquarium, an aquarium that is living, as opposed to one that is dead. Additional structural work may be needed to contain the water. Pumps will be needed too, but we can tax tourists to cover the costs.

Or maybe a solid waste transfer station.

Thank Buddha Almighty the state owns the land and the infrastructure.

2/18/2007 9:37 PM  

 Gus said...

I hear Energy Solutions wants to fill it full of . . . solutions.

2/18/2007 10:18 PM  

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