The bill was substituted on the House floor Thursday night to add language turning over control of Suite 260 in the Capitol to the Legislature once “a substantially similar space on Capitol hill is assigned to the state auditor.”
Space allocations in the Capitol building as well as the House and Senate buildings are being reevaluated in light of a fourth building set for completion in the coming year, he said, pointing out that 99% of the attorney general’s staff is already housed outside the Capitol.
Cannon said the Capitol building was envisioned as “an illustration” of the balance of power between the legislative, executive and judicial branches. Her major initiative since taking office in January was to open up part of the office to the public.
“It hadn’t been opened. We found a doorknob and opened the door to the public,” said Cannon, who is responsible for auditing state and local governments. “We invite the public in and we teach them how to search the records of the state of Utah that we have.”
McKell said there’s no reason that service couldn’t be made accessible to the public from one of the other buildings on Capitol Hill. He said any suggestion the office space has to do with the auditor’s transparency efforts is “unfortunate.”
“We want that office to be successful,” he said. “We want it to be accessible to the public.”
Later, Cannon told reporters she expected lawmakers to follow the process they’d previously approved for studying space allocations but was “shoved aside” when she brought that up earlier this week during a meeting with Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton.
“He said, ‘ignore the code, ignore the statute,’” Cannon said at a news conference held Friday morning. She expressed concern about the impact of making her concerns public on funding for her office, which has asked for an additional $1.5 million this session.
“There’s always a balance up here. I have a request for a budget increase that’s out there. If I make people angry, will I not get my budget increase?” Cannon asked. But when the change surfaced, she said she had to speak out.
Senate leaders told reporters they were “direct” with the auditor about the office space, but said it was Cannon who tied the move to her budget, not them.
“I was in the room. There was no bullying. We have vigorous debate on Capitol Hill. That’s what we do,” McKell said during Senate media availability, adding he was concerned that Cannon was “trying to leverage her budget.”
McKell said his bill would give the auditor shared reception space in the Capitol building with the attorney general as suggested by Cannon’s predecessor. But he said Cannon also has been “guaranteed” an office in the Capitol even though her staff will be moved out.
The auditor’s office also released a copy of another proposed substitute to SB143 in the Senate that spells out Suite 260 would go to the Legislature only after “substantially similar space in the state Capitol is assigned to the state auditor.”
McKell said he had not reviewed the substitute. Lawmakers have until midnight tonight to take action on that and other legislation before the session must end.
Contributing: Caitlin Keith
