Utah Senate unanimously consents to governor’s nominations, names interim manager for health department

The Utah State Senate met in a largely virtual extraordinary session in November 2020 and voted to consent to a slate of gubernatorial appointments, including naming Richard Saunders interim manager of the Utah Department of Health.

Madam Secretary read a governor’s proclamation convening the tenth extraordinary session under Article VII, Section 6 of the Utah Constitution and citing Utah Code 67-1-1. The communication listed nominees for confirmation: Richard Saunders for the Department of Health (interim manager), a nominee to the Alcohol Beverage Control Commission read as Juliet/Juliette Tenert/Tanner, Ron Iacono to the Quality Growth Commission, Jeffrey Eserson to the Utah Transit Authority board, and Steven Mark Studdard to the Judicial Conduct Commission.

Senate confirmation committees reported favorable recommendations for the nominees. Senator Alan M. Christiansen, chair of the Health and Human Services confirmation committee, said his committee “peppered [Saunders] with a lot of questions” and concluded he met the legal requirements for the post, while also noting a point of clarification: the committee’s paperwork designated Saunders as interim manager rather than executive director, as the secretary’s reading initially implied.

Senator Wayne A. Harper spoke during the roll call to explain his vote, saying he had “some reservations with some things that have gone on at the Department of Health” during the pandemic but that, after speaking with Richard Saunders, he believed Saunders was sincere and committed to address those issues; Harper concluded by voting “aye.” Other committee chairs and members praised nominees’ qualifications and experience.

Senator Hilliard moved that the Senate consent to the nominations as read. The motion proceeded to a roll call vote; the secretary recorded affirmative responses across the roll and the president announced the motion passed. Following the vote, the Senate notified the governor’s representative and adjourned sine die.

The Senate’s action provides legislative consent to the named appointments; the session record does not include further detail here about when any appointment becomes effective or additional administrative steps required for each nominee. Where the transcript presented variant spellings of several nominees’ names (for example, “Juliet Tenert” and “Juliette Tanner,” and alternate renderings of Jeffrey Eserson/Aserson), this article uses the forms as read during the governor’s communication and notes that committee reports reflected similar nominations.