PLAY?

House Republicans are jumping on board a proposal that would weaken the governor's position in budget negotiations.

Rep. Margaret Dayton's HB352 has 51 co-sponsors - enough votes not just to pass the bill but to override a veto if Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. unleashed his ultimate weapon.

The legislation would allow the previous year's budget to remain in place if Huntsman vetoed the new budget. That would remove one of the governor's biggest negotiating weapons.

Huntsman's office calls HB352 the "stick it to the governor bill."

"This is simply a power grab," said the governor's spokesman, Mike Mower. "This bill is a solution in search of a problem that hasn't happened once during Utah's 110-year history."

Dayton said she is not sponsoring the bill with Huntsman in mind.

"This is for a setting when we don't have a governor who works well with the Legislature," she said.

Lawmakers are still seething over the actions of former Gov. Olene Walker, who threatened a budget veto in 2004 if lawmakers did not fund a reading initiative she supported.

House Speaker Greg Curtis and Senate President John Valentine said the need for the bill has diminished under the new budget process. The Legislature now tries to pass the base budget early in the session so the governor has to either sign or veto it while legislators are still at the Capitol.

Such a move allows the Legislature to more easily override the veto of the governor and removes the threat that the state could be left without funding for any of its jails, schools or health care programs. The base budget bills for this session are now before Huntsman.

Dayton said she has extensive support in the Senate on top of the 47 Republicans and four Democrats who already have signed on to her bill in the House.

But Valentine is no longer so sure with the current budget process.

"Is this really necessary?" he asked. "We'll debate it."

mcanham@sltrib.com

---

Tribune Reporters Glen Warchol and Rebecca Walsh contributed to this article.