Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Legislative Organization topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Utah Senate organizes for 2005 session and elects John L. Valentine as president
Summary
On the first day of the 2005 general session the Utah State Senate certified membership, administered oaths, elected John L. Valentine as Senate president by acclamation, adopted prior rules with minor procedural continuations, and appointed standing and joint committees. A Committee of the Whole heard a presentation from the MLK Commission.
John L. Valentine was elected president of the Utah State Senate by acclamation on the first day of the 2005 general session as senators organized, took oaths, and set leadership and committee assignments.
The Senate convened, heard an invocation by Elder Russell M. Nelson, and accepted a ceremonial musical performance and the Pledge of Allegiance (invocation and ceremonial items were ordered 'spread upon the pages of the senate journal'). Lieutenant Governor Gary R. Herbert read the certification of membership for senators elected in the 2004 and earlier elections. Senators then repeated the oath to 'support, obey, and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this state' and established a quorum of 28 members present.
In an organizational motion, Senator Peter Knudson moved that the body proceed with election of leadership. Knudson nominated John L. Valentine for president; the nomination was seconded and, with no further nominations, Valentine was elected president by acclamation. Valentine took the oath and thanked members for the honor.
Valentine used his opening remarks to outline expectations for civility, communication, and leadership and to identify transportation, education, and tax reform as session priorities. The president recorded the majority and minority leadership positions for the session (including Peter Knudson as majority leader and Dan R. Eastman as majority whip; Mike Dimitrich as minority leader and Ron Allen as minority whip) and appointed a Senate rules committee and other standing and joint committees to be recorded in the Senate Journal.
By voice vote the Senate approved continuing the practice of reading only the short title of bills and resolutions on the calendar unless a majority requests otherwise and adopted the prior joint rules as the baseline for operating this session, with an understanding the rules committee would develop any additional rules needed. The body also approved employment of introduced Senate staff and appointed committees to notify the House and the Governor that the Senate was organized and ready to conduct business.
After housekeeping and introductions — including interns and staff — the Senate resolved into a Committee of the Whole to hear presentations from the NAACP and the Utah Martin Luther King Jr. Commission. The Committee of the Whole later was dissolved and the Senate recessed until 2:00 p.m. for further business.
Actions taken at the organizational meeting were procedural and were decided largely by voice vote; formal roll-call tallies were not recorded in the transcript.
