Senate President: Health Task Force Too Important for Election-Year Distractions

Mar 21, 2008 by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) Trying his best to keep politics out of health system reform, Senate President John Valentine says he selected four Senate colleagues to serve on the new task force in part because they are not facing re-election.

"I did not want to have people who were looking over their shoulder at elections," Valentine says. "And I felt like, the people I've chosen are ones who have various different views on health care, and it is sort of a broad range of views, but it is not someone who then has to spend time running for re-election, either in a primary or general election."

Senator Sheldon Killpack will co-chair the committee. Killpack is a board member on the Layton-based Davis Hospital and Medical Center. The other majority party representatives on the task force are Senators Peter Knudson, an orthodontist, and Greg Bell, a Real Estate Developer. The only minority Democratic Party representative on Valentine's list is Senator Pat Jones, a professional pollster. Unlike the other legislative task forces convening this summer, Valentine says the health system reform task force will require its members' undivided attention.

"This one, I recognize, they're probably going to have 10 or 12 all-day-long meetings in addition to their other responsibilities, which are usually two days a month," Valentine says. "So they are going to be adding an additional commitment to the legislative process this summer. I felt like I wanted to have people who could really dedicate the time."

House Speaker Greg Curtis has not yet released his list of appointees to the bicameral task force. He is expected to do so by the end of the month. Wednesday, Governor Jon Huntsman signed the bill that created the task force. It is regarded as the first step toward comprehensive health system reform.

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