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Utah Senate opens 2008 session in restored Capitol, President urges 'flexible but firm' governance
Summary
The Utah State Senate opened its 2008 general session in the newly restored Capitol, with Senate President John L. Valentine highlighting seismic upgrades, energy savings and a call for bipartisan problem-solving as senators certified membership, named leadership and set committee assignments.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah State Senate convened for the 2008 general session in a newly restored Capitol on the opening day, where Senate President John L. Valentine framed the session around stewardship and cooperation.
Valentine described the restored building’s physical upgrades and what he called a renewed obligation for the legislature. “This building will use 43% less electricity than it did before we reconstructed it,” he said, and noted the structure sits near an active fault. He told members the Capitol now includes “265 base isolators” and said the building can flex up to 24 inches and is estimated to withstand an earthquake up to magnitude 7.3. “But the question is, can we? … We need to be problem solvers,” Valentine said, urging colleagues to be “firm but flexible.”
The session opened with an invocation by Elder Robert D. Hales and the Pledge of Allegiance led by Chief Warrant Officer Forrest Scott Upton of the Utah National Guard; the presiding officer read a brief account of Upton’s 2007 emergency Black Hawk landing in Iraq and his Distinguished Flying Cross.
Leaders moved promptly into organization and housekeeping. The Secretary read the Office of the Lieutenant Governor’s certificate of membership for the 2008 general session, and the roll call established a quorum with 29 present. Valentine announced Senate leadership and appointments to the Rules Committee and other bodies, and Senator John Hickman moved to adopt the Senate rules and interim rules for the session, a motion carried by voice vote.
Lawmakers also introduced a long slate of bills and resolutions for the record and approved the Rules Committee report placing selected measures on the second-reading calendar and assigning many others to standing committees, signaling an early focus on preparing the floor and committee calendars.
The Senate recessed until a planned 2:15 p.m. joint convention where the State of the Judiciary address was scheduled. President Valentine also asked members to be mindful of microphones during the first days as staff fine-tune systems in the renovated chamber.
The Senate’s organizational steps — certification of membership, leadership announcements, committee appointments and the placement of bills on calendars — mark the procedural start of the 2008 business before substantive debate in committees and on the floor.
