This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Sen. Alvin Jackson, R-Highland, is leaving the Senate this year to move back East, where his son Frank, one of the best high school basketball players in the country, will play for Duke.
And thanks to a last-minute reprieve, he'll get to take his furniture and TVs with him.
A constable's sale to dispose of Jackson's nonessential property was set for Monday at the Jackson home in Highland to help satisfy a $38,000 court judgment that was imposed against the senator several years ago, before he moved to Utah.
But the sale was canceled last week when Jackson agreed to a settlement with the creditor, Maritime Services Corp., after years of disputing the claim and the legitimacy of the court's ruling that he owed that amount.
Maritime filed the claim, alleging Jackson had not paid the full amount for renovation work the company did on his property in Oregon.
When he moved to Utah, the case was transferred to a law firm in South Jordan, which began garnisheeing Jackson's Senate salary last year after he was elected to the seat vacated by Sen. John Valentine, who left to become chairman of the Utah Tax Commission.
Jackson still disputes the claim, contending he paid Maritime more than $100,000 for the work, said Morgan Philpot, Jackson's attorney who is running for his client's seat in the Senate.
But it is costing him more money to continue to fight the judgment, which Philpot maintains was made under false pretenses from the creditor, than to pay a settlement and get it over with.
Jackson has been one of the most conservative members of the Senate. He sponsored a resolution to repeal the 17th Amendment and return to the system of electing U.S. senators by state legislatures. He also pushed for a constitutional amendment to allow some State School Board members to be chosen by partisan elections. He sponsored a bill to reduce sanctions for parents whose children are habitually absent from school. And he was a staunch supporter of the caucus/convention system of nominating candidates, citing biblical passages to support that view.
Financial background: While Sen. Jackson, with his disputed financial issues behind him, now leaving the Senate, a possible newcomer to that august body knows all about debt management.
Rep. Jake Anderegg, R-Lehi, is running for the Utah County Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Saratoga Springs. He seems to be fine now, being one of a string of current and past legislators gainfully employed by Zions Bank as an insurance consultant.
But before he was elected to the House in 2012, he filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy twice — once in 2004 and again in 2008.
Perhaps that experience will bring more empathy to the Utah Senate for those who find themselves in a bind from time to time.
Where credit is due? A campaign billboard on 3300 S. 700 East for Gov. Gary Herbert boasts: "Balancing the budget year after year. It's the Utah way."
The caption is underneath a picture of Herbert and implies that under his leadership, the state has been able to balance the budget each year.
What it doesn't say is that the Legislature finalizes the budget and has the responsibility of leaving a balanced budget on the books for the next fiscal year.
It also doesn't say that the Utah Constitution requires the state to have a balanced budget each year. So every governor in Utah history, by law, has presided over a balanced budget. It's the Utah way.
Hardened criminal: An 89-year-old Salt Lake City man I know has been suffering for years with neuropathy, a painful nerve disorder usually brought on by diabetes that made it difficult for him to walk.
He received treatment for six months at a local clinic that cost him $3,000 out of pocket since it is not covered by Medicare. But after the six months, there was no improvement in his condition.
Then, an acquaintance who runs a medical clinic in another state suggested he try a marijuana-based cream.
A jar of the cream cost him $40 and he says it cleared up his pain almost immediately. But, because the Utah Legislature refused to pass a bill legalizing medical marijuana in this state, he now is a criminal.