Zions Bank is back in the legislative leadership power mode — if indeed the home-grown financial institution was ever out of it.
For the second time in the last decade, the speaker of the Utah House is a full-time bank employee.
Rep. Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara, is a regional president of the bank, moving up the financial ranks since he first went to work for the bank as a college graduate more than 30 years ago. Clark becomes speaker next month.
Former House Speaker Marty Stephens, R-Farr West, was a Zions manager when he was speaker for six years in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The bank was originally started by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints more than 125 years ago, but it's been a publicly held bank since the 1960s.
Besides Clark (who was the House majority leader before being elected speaker by fellow GOP House members last month), Sen. Kevin Van Tassell, R-Vernal; Sen. Ross Romero, D-Salt Lake; and Sen.-elect Luz Rubles, D-Salt Lake, are also full-time Zions employees.
Van Tassell is a branch manager, Romero is in corporate sales and Rubles heads the bank's business resource center.
In addition, Rep. Fred Hunsaker, R-Logan, and Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem (the former Senate president) sit as board members on one of the bank's regional board organizations, said Rob Brough, Zions vice president for communications.
Zions and its top bank executives have been active politically for some time, both in lobbying for various financial issues before the Legislature and in giving money to political causes and candidates.
In 2008, the bank's political action committee donated $82,000 (up through the November pre-general election reporting period) — the money going to candidates, political parties and to political action committees run by leaders in both houses of the Legislature, both political parties.
In the 2006 elections, Zions ranked as the seventh largest special interest donor to legislative campaigns, a study by the Deseret News then showed.
GOP Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., besides getting political donations from the bank PAC in his 2008 re-election, also has a $500,000 personal line of credit at Zions — and he borrowed $295,000 from the bank for his campaign this year.
Zions supports both Republicans and Democrats, often giving to candidates of both parties for the same office.
In addition to the bank PAC, Zions president A. Scott Anderson gives large sums of money himself to candidates and causes. Anderson gave Huntsman $26,500 for his 2008 re-election, campaign and PAC records show.
The bank itself has a host of registered lobbyists, with both well-known Democratic and Republican lobbyists registered as representing the firm.
Clark said he is grateful that the bank allows him to serve in the Legislature. "Especially since I live 300 miles away (in Washington County) from the Capitol — it's a long trip. I couldn't afford to do it otherwise."
Brough said the bank never asks employees to seek political office, but if they do so on their own the bank supports them in that endeavor. "We always tell them they are there (in public office) to serve their constituents, not the bank," said Brough. "And if there is a conflict between (a bank position) and their constituents' will, they should support their constituents."
Clark says he gets his full annual pay from Zions, even though he and other bank employee-legislators work nearly full time for the state during the 45-day general session, and many days a week during the rest of the year.
Clark said he's still seeing how much time being speaker may take. "I'm working at least two days a week up here" in Salt Lake City, he said this past week. Being the speaker "is really a full-time job — maybe even more than full time."
Each two-year term, said Clark, by bank personnel policy he must ask Anderson, as the bank president, if he can serve in the Legislature again. "He has always been gracious and said yes."
But not all Zion/legislators are longtime employees like Clark. Zions has hired a number of legislators and state
workers over recent years.
Romero is an attorney by profession, and several years ago he left his law firm to work for Zions, not as a lawyer, but in corporate sales.
One of Huntsman's initial Cabinet appointees didn't even make it to state Senate confirmation four years ago, instead deciding to take a job at Zions Bank rather than head a state agency.
E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com