Latest news with #SB143
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tension brews between state auditor and top lawmakers over office relocation
Utah Auditor Tina Cannon speaks to reporters at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City on Friday, March 7, 2025. (Kyle Dunphey/Utah News Dispatch) Tension is brewing between the Legislature and newly elected Auditor Tina Cannon, who, just 60 days into her tenure, says she's being pushed out of her office at the Utah Capitol Building. Lawmakers say that isn't true — instead, her staff might be required to move if a bill, sponsored by Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, passes. By their interpretation, Cannon can still have an office in the main Capitol Building, although she might have to share a reception area with the Attorney General's Office. Regardless, the relationship between Senate leadership and Cannon, who is tasked with ensuring taxpayer funded programs and agencies are compliant and efficient, appeared fraught on the final day of the legislative session. 'It is disturbing to me that in my plea to follow the legal process, I was told to ignore the legal process,' said Cannon, referring to previous legislation aimed at studying how office space is allocated at the Capitol. 'Her comments were very inappropriate,' said McKell on Friday. The bill, SB143, makes a number of changes to policies, procedures and office space at the Utah Capitol Building. It passed with unanimous approval in the Senate — but after a late amendment that included language about the auditor's office was adopted on Thursday night, a bipartisan group of 18 lawmakers voted against it. The provision in question states that, beginning on Jan. 1, 2025 (meaning the bill is retroactive) the auditor's office space would be placed under control of the Utah State Procurement Policy Board until a 'similar space on Capitol hill is assigned to the state auditor.' After that, the bill states the office Cannon has been occupying 'is under the direction and control of the Legislature.' The Senate has yet to approve the amendment made in the House — Sen. Heidi Balderree, R-Saratoga Springs, has proposed an amendment that would clarify the auditor's office belongs in the main Capitol Building. It has not been adopted as of Friday afternoon. Cannon reads the current version of the bill as an eviction notice. 'I was told that senators would like additional space in the capitol and that I needed to make room for them. And my response was … I'm a statewide constitutional officer, I'm also elected, please respect the position that I hold. And they said that doesn't matter, we'll just sweep you out,' she said on Friday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX When asked about how her conversations have been between Legislative leaders, Cannon said, 'not calm.' She has accused Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, of bullying and hinted to Utah News Dispatch on Friday that she had concerns that the dispute could impact funding for her office, which is controlled by the Legislature. 'I was trying to walk a very fine line, because they control my budget. And I'm sure there will be an impact. I will be watching closely for that impact,' she said on Friday. Senators pushed back on just about everything Cannon said on Friday. McKell said her comments were 'unfortunate' and 'inappropriate,' while Adams said the suggestion that legislators were using funding as leverage was 'absolutely false.' 'Honestly, I felt like it was really inappropriate for the auditor to try to leverage that into the conversation. It was not part of the conversation,' said McKell. 'To say that she was leveraged into this, that just was absolutely false,' added Adams. Lawmakers say the conversations around office space have been going on for years, stemming from the construction of a new building on Utah's Capitol Hill. McKell pointed out other statewide offices — the governor, attorney general and legislature all have staff with offices in other buildings. 'We have a new building that's being built, we're going to reshuffle office space, and we do want to look at office space on Capitol Hill,' McKell said. 'It doesn't say that she's being removed from the Capitol. I think we read that differently. But you know, we're going to continue to work on it.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Is the state auditor being pushed out of the Utah Capitol?
New Utah Auditor Tina Cannon said on the final day of the 2025 Legislature Friday that last-minute changes to a bill would push her office out of the state Capitol building, a move she's calling disrespectful. Senate Majority Assistant Whip Mike McKell, the sponsor of SB143, told KSL NewsRadio's 'Dave and Dujanavic' he sees the auditor retaining some space in the historic building while relocating her staff to another building on Capitol Hill to make more room for lawmakers. Cannon, the state's first female auditor and one of five statewide elected officials along with the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and treasurer, said on the radio program that the legislation came as a surprise. 'It felt very last-minute and very rushed through the process. I can't speak to why that happened that way. I've only been here 60 days. I find it a little shocking, frustrating, disrespectful of the process in general,' she said. The bill was substituted on the House floor Thursday night to add language turning over control of Suite 260 in the Capitol to the Legislature once 'a substantially similar space on Capitol hill is assigned to the state auditor.' McKell, however, said it is important the auditor to 'have a presence in the Capitol building.' But he said the priority is to 'get as many elected officials in the Capitol building' as possible, noting that eight of the 29 state senators did not have offices there. Space allocations in the Capitol building as well as the House and Senate buildings are being reevaluated in light of a fourth building set for completion in the coming year, he said, pointing out that 99% of the attorney general's staff is already housed outside the Capitol. Cannon said the Capitol building was envisioned as 'an illustration' of the balance of power between the legislative, executive and judicial branches. Her major initiative since taking office in January was to open up part of the office to the public. 'It hadn't been opened. We found a doorknob and opened the door to the public,' said Cannon, who is responsible for auditing state and local governments. 'We invite the public in and we teach them how to search the records of the state of Utah that we have.' McKell said there's no reason that service couldn't be made accessible to the public from one of the other buildings on Capitol Hill. He said any suggestion the office space has to do with the auditor's transparency efforts is 'unfortunate.' 'We want that office to be successful,' he said. 'We want it to be accessible to the public.'
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Is the state auditor being pushed out of the Utah Capitol?
New Utah Auditor Tina Cannon said on the final day of the 2025 Legislature Friday that last-minute changes to a bill would push her office out of the state Capitol building, a move she's calling disrespectful. Senate Majority Assistant Whip Mike McKell, the sponsor of SB143, told KSL NewsRadio's 'Dave and Dujanavic' he sees the auditor retaining some space in the historic building while relocating her staff to another building on Capitol Hill to make more room for lawmakers. Cannon, the state's first female auditor and one of five statewide elected officials along with the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and treasurer, said on the radio program that the legislation came as a surprise. 'It felt very last-minute and very rushed through the process. I can't speak to why that happened that way. I've only been here 60 days. I find it a little shocking, frustrating, disrespectful of the process in general,' she said. The bill was substituted on the House floor Thursday night to add language turning over control of Suite 260 in the Capitol to the Legislature once 'a substantially similar space on Capitol hill is assigned to the state auditor.' McKell, however, said it is important the auditor to 'have a presence in the Capitol building.' But he said the priority is to 'get as many elected officials in the Capitol building' as possible, noting that eight of the 29 state senators did not have offices there. Space allocations in the Capitol building as well as the House and Senate buildings are being reevaluated in light of a fourth building set for completion in the coming year, he said, pointing out that 99% of the attorney general's staff is already housed outside the Capitol. Cannon said the Capitol building was envisioned as 'an illustration' of the balance of power between the legislative, executive and judicial branches. Her major initiative since taking office in January was to open up part of the office to the public. 'It hadn't been opened. We found a doorknob and opened the door to the public,' said Cannon, who is responsible for auditing state and local governments. 'We invite the public in and we teach them how to search the records of the state of Utah that we have.' McKell said there's no reason that service couldn't be made accessible to the public from one of the other buildings on Capitol Hill. He said any suggestion the office space has to do with the auditor's transparency efforts is 'unfortunate.' 'We want that office to be successful,' he said. 'We want it to be accessible to the public.'
