Utah Senate organizes for 1993 session, elects Arnold Christiansen president and introduces wide slate of bills

The Utah State Senate convened an organizational session that included the swearing in of members, the election of a chamber president, committee and staff appointments, and the formal introduction of dozens of bills.

Senators rose for opening ceremonies that included a scout color guard, a flag presentation, a musical performance by members of the Utah Opera, and an invocation. Secretary of the Senate read the Lieutenant Governor’s certificate of membership, citing post‑redistricting term adjustments under Utah Code section 36‑1‑2, and senators recited the oath of office.

Senator John P. Holmgren nominated Senator Arnold Christiansen for president of the Senate; the nomination was seconded and carried by acclamation. Christiansen then took the oath and addressed the chamber, praising Utah’s recent economic performance and outlining priorities for the session including education, health‑care access, gang prevention and attention to projected medical assistance spending. He cited preliminary fiscal staff estimates and a projected 1993 surplus figure while urging fiscal prudence.

The body recorded caucus leadership selections (majority leader Lane Beatty; majority whip Craig A. Peterson; minority leader Scott N. Howell; minority whip Mike Dimitridge) and approved them by voice vote. Senators moved and carried several organizational motions by voice vote: expressing appreciation for the day’s invited guests, recording the opening prayer in the Senate Journal, and adopting the previous session’s rules temporarily until new rules can be adopted.

President Christiansen announced committee assignments and appointed standing and select committees, including an executive appropriations committee and joint appropriations subcommittees. Senator David H. Steele, reporting for the patronage committee, presented a slate of recommended full‑ and part‑time Senate staff for the 1993 session; the Senate approved the appointments and administered the staff oath.

Members of the Martin Luther King State Human Rights Commission addressed the chamber. Commission Chair Dr. Forrest Crawford described recent outreach and rural community visits and framed the MLK holiday as an opportunity to renew commitments to human dignity and statewide outreach.

Secretary Joanne Thomas read the titles of a long slate of Senate bills and resolutions introduced for first reading, including measures on retirement service credit (SB 1), disability insurance (SB 2), assault on sports officials (SB 3), parks and recreation and used oil management (SB 5, SB 12), education and school fees (SB 17), and a collection of other bills spanning public safety, health, education, natural resources and taxation. The Rules Committee reported assignments for many bills and asked that certain measures be printed and assigned to standing committees; all introduced bills were considered read for the first time and referred to committees as announced.

With preliminary business complete, the Senate recessed until 2 p.m.; members were also notified that Governor Michael O. Leavitt would deliver a State of the State message to a joint session at 6:30 p.m.

Actions taken during the session were organizational in nature and did not include floor roll‑call tallies for policy bills; motions and approvals were carried by voice vote as recorded in the session.