Commission tackles a provision to clarify succession of governor
Group leans toward lawmakers' authority, but decision not final
That's the kind of scenario members of the state Constitutional Revision Commission contemplated Thursday as they continued work on revising the gubernatorial succession provisions of the Utah Constitution.
The question of succession came up nearly two years ago when former Gov. Mike Leavitt announced he was stepping down during his third term to take a post with the Bush administration.
The commission determined the constitution wasn't clear about whether then-Lt. Gov. Olene Walker would actually become governor or just assume the duties of the office when Leavitt left.
That was settled, at least temporarily, by Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who issued an opinion stating that Walker would indeed become gov- ernor. Now, commission members are coming up with proposed changes to clarify the succession issue in the constitution.
Their work likely won't be finished for some time. Any change to the state constitution would have to be approved first by the Legislature, and then by voters in a general election. Since the next general election isn't until November 2006, they don't need to rush.
But that's not the only way both could perish, several members noted. The chairman of the commission, Kevin Worthen, noted grimly that the state's two top officials would be vulnerable to a terrorist attack if they attended an event together.
Another commission member, Rep. Sheryl Allen, R-Bountiful, agreed that possibility should be considered. "In this day and age, I think we need to have a plan," she said.
What the commission came up with Thursday was leaving it up to the Legislature. Lawmakers would have the option of passing a law in advance of the need to establish who would fill the offices, or waiting until — if ever — that need arose.
They rejected language that would have established that the president of the state Senate — or, if that post were vacant, the speaker of the House — would step down from their legislative office and become governor.
Some commission members said lawmakers have been reluctant to act to prepare for some situations, and suggested anything done at the time of a dual vacancy could be challenged as violating the separation of powers between the two branches of government.
But Robin Riggs, who has served as legal counsel to both the legislative and executive branches, said he couldn't "imagine anyone challenging the Legislature's authority to do something."
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