Legislature. Senate

These journals serve as a record of the actions of the legislature during session. They constitute the published minutes of the state senate and territorial council. House and Senate journals were kept together from the time of the organization of the territory in 1851. Since 1882, the journals have been kept separately. Daily entries cover a standard order of business. Place, date, roll, and prayer are noted before proceeding. Citizens' petitions for various actions and monetary claims are the first order. Other communications from agencies, groups, or individuals also are recorded. Committee reports are the next order of business. These recommend passage or rejection of particular legislation. Early reports often include detailedexplanations and agency reports, but such detail is generally omitted by the 1920s. The process of enacting legislation via bills and resolutions is the most frequent business recorded. The title is noted along with its status:__which reading, whether it passed, committee referrals, amendments and motions for rewrites, etc. The contents of the bills are not recorded. Names of individuals motioning for particular actions are noted as are the names on the final vote. Messages from the opposing chamber are recorded in full. Messages from the governor report passage, veto, or objections to bills. Senate confirmations of gubernatorial appointments alsoare noted. Memorial tributes, speeches, prayers, invitations to various functions, etc. may also be read into the record. Joint session minutes are also entered. From 1896 to 1913, these included the election of U.S._Senators. The governor's opening address detailed concerns, and initially included agency reports. Joint memorials to Congress, pleading for federal action (or inaction) were common in the 1880s. Member lists, either as part of the initial roll, or as a separate table, appear at the start of each volume, with photos by 1975. Committee membership is also noted. Many of the volumes have the senate rules recorded toward the beginning which specify the order of business and clarify procedures.

These volumes constitute the published minutes of the senate from territorial days to the present. The legislature began keeping journals within a year of becoming a territory in 1850. At first the senate, then known as the Legislative Council, published its journal mixed with that of the House (see LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY JOURNALS). By 1882 the journals were kept separately, although the 1892 edition was bound jointly with the separate journal of the House.

Each day's entry covers a standard order of business. The place and date is entered: there is note of the call to order and roll, a prayer, reading of the journal entry from the previous day, legislative business, adjournment, and, until 1896, a closing benediction. While the activities are noted, details are not. The beginning day of each session usually lists all members answering to roll call; thereafter the entries just specify if a quorum is present. Often a separate table of members is included toward the start of the volume; by 1975, their photographs are included. Many of the volumes have the appropriate sections of the constitution and the senate rules recorded toward the beginning which specify the order of business and clarify procedures.

Legislative business is only slightly more detailed. Petitions, if any, are the first order of new business. These are requests from citizens for various actions and are most frequently referred to the appropriate committee. Other communications, from agencies, groups, or individuals, might also be read into the record at this time.

Committee reports are the next order of daily business. The reports recommend the passage or rejection of particular legislation. If the entire committee is not in agreement, a minority report might be presented. Initially, letters and reports from various state agencies were often entered into the record as part of a committee report. However, by the 1920s, committee reports were confined strictly to a statement recommending passage or rejection of legislation. During the 1960s, brief reasons for the recommendation were included, although not as detailed as in the early reports. These again are dropped by the 1970s, with rare exceptions such as the report of the reapportionment committee in 1981 which is recorded in full. Committee members are appointed at the beginning of the session, and may also be listed in tables at the beginning or end of many volumes.

The process of enacting legislation via bills and resolutions is the most frequent business recorded. The title of the bill is noted along with its status: which reading it is at, whether or not it is passed, whether it has been referred back to committee, what amendments or rewrites are motioned for, etc. The contents of the bills are not recorded, although brief summaries of the contents along with the actions taken are recorded in separate tables in 1977 and 1979. The names of individuals motioning for particular actions are specified, and after 1884, individual names also are recorded on the final vote on a bill or resolution.

Messages from the opposing chamber, usually relating to a joint session or the passage of a bill in that house, are recorded in full. Messages from the governor also report passage, veto, or objections to portions of particular bills. Senate confirmations of gubernatorial appointees are recorded as well. Speeches related to statehood are prevalent in 1896 and 1897. Memorial tributes to deceased notables occur intermittently. Other miscellaneous business includes such things as invitations to visit or attend various civic functions, a poem read into the record by a senator, etc.

Minutes from joint sessions are entered in the journals of both houses. From statehood in 1896 to 1913, the joint session elected U.S. senators, so much time is noted recording candidate speeches and numerous ballots. The governor's opening message was also presented in joint session and printed in full, detailing topics of concern in the state and recommending legislative action. Initially, several agency reports, particularly those of the auditor and treasurer, accompanied the governor's address; later these were simply summarized in his message. Joint memorials to Congress, pleading for federal action (or inaction), commonly appear in the joint sessions of the 1880s, but are shorter and less frequent after statehood when Utah gained more autonomy.