After all the bad blood, name-calling and rancor of four months ago, the smiling faces on the steps of the state Capitol Wednesday afternoon were quite a contrast.
There was Democratic Attorney General Jan Graham and Republicans Gov. Mike Leavitt, Senate President Lane Beattie and Speaker Marty Stephens announcing they had reached agreement over a controversial new law that strips Graham's office of civil authority.Said Graham: This agreement "shows Utahns that your leaders can work well together out of respect for you."
Basically, Republicans got what they wanted: The governor has final say on issues that affect his departments and himself. Graham will conduct regular civil actions unless overruled by Leavitt or an executive client -- like a state department head.
In cases where Leavitt and GOP legislative leaders have disagreed with Graham before -- like filing a friend-of-the-court brief in a Vermont same-sex marriage case -- it will be Leavitt's, not Graham's, call from now on.
But Graham got some independent authority, also. How that independence will work in real life is yet to be tested. And, in fact, it may never be tested by her. Graham has only 18 months left in office -- she's not seeking re-election -- and no instance may occur where she begins a major independent action.
Graham and Leavitt said they would work under the agreement starting now, even though it won't legally take effect until after legislators adopt it in a general session.
GOP senators and representatives, meeting in closed caucuses at noon, approved the final agreement. But more than a few wondered why they had to agree with Graham about anything.
"Hey, we won against Jan Graham (in passing the original HB139 in February). And we're conceding something to her now? What is that all about?" said Rep. Glenn Way, R-Spanish Fork.
What it's about is avoiding a costly lawsuit and getting out of the Republicans' way an issue that they had clearly lost before the public, other GOP House members said.
In February GOP leaders and Leavitt sprung a new bill on the Legislature. Called the Public Attorneys Act, it said that Graham and the 29 elected county attorneys would act in civil matters as their executive departments directed.
For years some governors and attorneys general, sometimes of the same political party, sometimes of different parties, fought over who got the final say in state legal matters. Graham and Leavitt were no different, with at times Graham saying her "client" was the people of Utah who elected her, not Leavitt and his department heads. At those times, she said, she would pursue legal matters as she, not Leavitt, saw fit.
Most people assumed it would take a constitutional amendment to change the historical fact that the attorney general filed lawsuits as he or she saw fit.
When House Majority Assistant Whip Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, filed HB139, Graham and her Democratic allies were dumbfounded and angry. A bitter partisan fight ensued.
But Leavitt and Republicans argued the Utah Constitution allowed for the law and that now was the time to settle the matter.
Graham fumed. She threatened lawsuits and vowed victory. She even strongly hinted that she would seek a third four-year term in 2000 to "see this out." For a short time she even considered running against Leavitt for governor, believing he had been damaged by his actions toward her.
But a month ago Graham offered an olive branch. She asked Leavitt, Beattie and Stephens to meet with her "one last time" to work out the matter before she filed suit.
Republicans smelled a deal. And privately they maintained Wednesday that they didn't give up much.
When push comes to shove, Leavitt will make the call on major state legal policy. Graham will act like a regular, private attorney and do the legal work for his agencies under his direction.
Pushed on that point during a sunny, hot press conference on the Capitol steps, Leavitt said, "executive officers" will oversee civil legal actions in their areas. He will take action in his area.
In short, he makes the call.
Graham said she keeps her independence in civil actions "where appropriate." It's not immediately clear where those areas are. But they appear to be in arenas where Leavitt or his department heads don't care what she does or how she does it.
Asked if the 2001 Legislature -- with Graham retired from office but Leavitt in a third term and Republicans still controlling the Legislature -- may just go back to the original HB139, Leavitt said: "Something tells me people will not want to deal with this for awhile."