With speeches, prayers, swearing in of new members and hopes that Utah's economy is turning around and more taxes will flow, the 55th Utah State Legislature convened Monday morning in the state Capitol.
Gone is the excitement of the 2002 Winter Games, which caused last year's Legislature to adjourn for two weeks in the middle of its 45-day general session. But with 16 new House members and five new senators, tight budgets and hundreds of bills to consider, similar to the previous 54 legislatures, this one has plenty on its plate.
House Speaker Marty Stephens, R-Farr West, in addressing the opening session, said some of the "more contentious issues we face will be tuition tax credits (for parents with children in private schools), hazardous and radioactive waste, the bank and credit union issue, abortion and other so-called moral issues, and funding of the budget."
Senate President Al Mansell, R-Sandy, agreed the 2003 session will be challenging, with tight budgets dominating discussions.
"But in a time of great challenge comes great opportunity to make changes that will make a difference in ways that are meaningful," he said.
Mansell pointed to education reform as one of those opportunities. "Great accomplishment comes from the need to make changes," he said. "And we have great need."
The Utah Constitution requires legislators to convene on the third Monday of January, the day Congress has set aside as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. And while Utah lawmakers routinely pause to honor the memory of the civil rights leader slain in 1968, the Legislature has been routinely criticized for starting on the federal and state holiday.
In fact, while nearly all other states adopted the day in honor of King, Utah for years called it Human Rights Day and refused to attach King's name to it. That was changed several years ago.
Rep. Duane Bourdeaux, D-Salt Lake, the House's only black member, said the perception in Utah's minority community is that the Legislature should not meet on the King holiday. "However, the Martin Luther King Jr. Commission favors us meeting, saying it is kind of the only thing going on that day. But perception is important, and personally I don't think we should meet today."
Stephens said, "We think holding the Legislature on the holiday actually highlights the day, gives it more attention than perhaps it would otherwise receive."
Few public events are actually held on the day, Stephens said. "However, if the Utah minority community becomes united in opposition (to the Legislature meeting on the holiday), then I for one would considering changing the first day we meet," he added. "As of now, they are split, some feeling we should meet, some saying we shouldn't."
Freshman Sen. James Evans, R-Salt Lake, the Senate's only black member, agrees with Stephens, pointing to the ceremony and public attention honoring the slain civil rights leader. "We use this as an opportunity to espouse the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.," he said.
Evans, who grew up in South Carolina during the height of segregation, said all blacks of that era were engaged "in a daily fight for dignity and equality."
Evans said he could be elected as black Republican is testament to the true legacy of King — that men and women should be judged on their character, not on the color of their skin.
"There are those who say I should not be a Republican because I am black," he said. "But those are people who judge me on the color of my skin, not on who I am."
In addressing the House, Stephens said that except for the 2002 session, "every year since 1988 Utah has had a budget surplus. In several of those years, there were $500 million" in surplus.
Lawmakers won't get their updated revenue estimates for the 2003-04 fiscal year until mid-February, but it appears there will not be much "new money" in growing tax revenues.
Legislators face the daunting job of actually cutting some budgets for next year below current levels, and over the past two fiscal years they've trimmed hundreds of millions of dollars and laid off more than 50 employees. They've pulled sales tax money from roads and water development.
But Gov. Mike Leavitt, who gives his State of the State address Tuesday night to legislators, expects more. He'd like more money taken out of the state water development and more cash taken from road funds.
Gone, Stephens said, are the revenue-rich days of state government when "we were able to put huge amounts of money into public education."
"We face a different challenge today," Stephens said, "with budget deficits and still growing responsibilities. But the situation we now find ourselves in is not all bad. After 14 consecutive years of budget surpluses, I don't think it hurts at all to have to slow the growth of government and relook at how we are spending the hard-earned money of the state's citizens." In fact, trimming out the "nice-to-have" programs from the "must have" state activities can "turn the economy around" and help get tax revenues flowing again. Such action can actually provide even more money "for the constitutionally required roles of government, such as public and higher education," he said.
Legislators pray each morning before their floor sessions. Monday, Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints asked legislators to put principle above politics, wisdom above knowledge and morality above expediency. Elder Neal A. Maxwell, also of the church's Quorum of the Twelve, gave the prayer in the Senate, praying for an end to the drought and a bipartisan cooperation in tough economic times.
Legislators went to work Monday afternoon, taking up some less-controversial bills that had previously been approved by interim study committees which met last summer and fall.
E-MAIL: bbjr@desnews.com, spang@desnews.com