Congress delegates list few big debts
Not one of the House and Senate members from Utah listed any liabilities, besides a mortgage, on financial disclosures that were due Tuesday. The delegation made the statements available to the Deseret Morning News before the filing deadline.
The Ethics in Government Act requires that Senate and House members file annual reports listing assets, liabilities and income, as well as sponsored travel and income earned outside of their congressional salaries. The reports require that congressmen report their assets and liabilities within a range, with the highest category at $50 million and above.
There are exemptions. A primary residence doesn't have to be an asset, or debt under $10,000 also does not have to be reported, which means that some of the delegation could have small debts, even if there was no consumer debt reported by any members of the delegation.
When compared to previous years, the delegation's financial pictures were somewhat stabilized. For example, the richest member of the group, Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, had a net worth between $2.1 million and $7.5 million, which is exactly his reported net worth last year.
Not unexpectedly, Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, a former schoolteacher, had the lowest net worth. It was between $2,002 and $30,000, supplemented only by a $25,666 pension from the Utah State Retirement System and his $165,200 congressional salary.
Bishop, who traveled to Germany and Israel two years ago for his work for the Congressional Study Group of Germany, traveled for the group twice this year as well. However, these trips only took him to Nantucket, Mass., and San Diego.
Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, had a net worth between $400,000 and $1.2 million, much of it invested in stocks — including a monthly investment of up to $1,000 in the Wasatch Micro-Cap Fund. He does, however, have a coin collection worth between $1,001 and $15,000.
Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, continues to carry large assets in his ownership of three Anniversary Inns, but they also saddle him with large liabilities. All told, his assets are worth between $8 million and $36 million, but his liabilities — primarily mortgages on the businesses — are between $6 million and $30 million.
Outside of the inns, he does have a stock portfolio worth a reported $500,000 to $1 million.
A stock portfolio is the primary income for Bennett's senior colleague, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. While other disclosures are around five pages long, Hatch's exceeds 60 pages because of very active stock trading.
According to Peter Carr, Hatch's spokesman, those stocks are managed professionally, and the senator had no input on what was being bought and sold. They included hundreds of transactions that the adviser used to create a portfolio "spread across the entire stock market."
His wealth has remained about the same, however. He is worth between $1.4 million and $3.4 million, which is only a slight drop from last year's top range of $3.9 million.
Hatch continued to earn money from his song writing as well, with royalties of more than $20,000. Last year, he earned almost $39,000.
Contributing: Suzanne Struglinski
E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com
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