This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah Senators unanimously confirmed one of their own Wednesday, Sen. John Valentine, to be the next chairman of the Utah Tax Commission.
"We will miss him in this body. We will miss his input and institutional knowledge, his wisdom," said Sen. Deidre Henderson, R-Spanish Fork, "but we do recognize that he is very qualified for this job and he will greatly benefit the Tax Commission and the taxpayers of Utah."
The Orem senator, who is a tax attorney, was nominated by Gov. Gary Herbert last month. He was the second-longest serving legislator at the Capitol — first elected in 1988 — and sponsored numerous bills related to tax issues and liquor regulation.
"[The Senate] has been my life, and this has been my family. It's been a very tough decision," Valentine said. "But we finally decided that the time had come for someone else to have this seat and for me to serve in another capacity, a place I have spent my whole life preparing for."
Valentine replaces Commissioner Bruce Johnson on the Tax Commission. Valentine will resign his Senate seat and Republican delegates in the Senate district will choose his replacement.
Twitter: @RobertGehrke