"He went after President Bush pretty good and that's not typically the tone we have here at NCSL," Stephens, the Republican Utah House speaker, said during a news conference Monday kicking off the five-day convention attracting more than 4,000 participants.

Stephens acknowledged he did not attend the Saturday evening reception for the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators at the City-County Building, but said he received complaints later from some lawmakers who were there. Stephens said one of them asked him, "Why does your mayor hate President Bush so much?"

Anderson denied the accusations.

Stephens "obviously wasn't there and doesn't know what he is talking about," Anderson, a Democrat, said in a later interview.

"I'm sure I made it clear where I am in this presidential election, but I certainly wasn't bashing the president. When I bash President Bush there are a lot of things I say that I didn't even get close to in this meeting."

Mickey Ibarra, a consultant to the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators, backed Anderson's version of the event.

While the mayor criticized the administration for cutting federal funding of low-income housing, that is a concern shared by local elected leaders of all partisan stripes, said Ibarra, a Democrat and former assistant to President Clinton.

"I had an opportunity to greet each person present and I didn't receive anything but compliments for the mayor," he said.

Anderson said he was baffled why Stephens would bring the matter up in the NCSL opening news conference "to start off in such a negative vein." But he added it could be related to long-standing tensions between the speaker and himself over the Legacy Highway and other issues.

Stephens said he had made no attempt to discuss the inappropriate "Bush bashing

the mayor because, "it was just Rocky being Rocky."

The NCSL news conference was mostly about the positive aspects of Salt Lake City hosting the conference, including estimates that it would spin off nearly $5 million in benefits to the local economy. Organization Executive Director William Pound said "We're off to a very good start. . . . The hospitality is what you would expect in Utah - very good."

But Stephens veered from the upbeat script to complain of the mayor's behavior.

"We really try and stay away from partisan politics as much as possible," he said.

Stephens pointed to a last-minute confirmation that White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card will speak to the group Friday, adding, "I don't think you're going to see him talk about [Democratic presidential nominee John] Kerry."