The Utah Transit Authority survived an attempt at a hostile takeover by the state on Monday, but the agency is not yet in the clear.
A bill that would have dismantled UTA, given the local tax dollars that fund the agency to the state, and put the Utah Department of Transportation in charge of operating buses and TRAX, failed to receive a vote in committee Monday.
But HB166 could still surface on the House floor before the session adjourns on Feb. 28.
And either way, the bill's sponsor plans to study the issue of putting UTA under state control during the interim this summer.
"This is not an anti-UTA, or anti-bus bill," sponsoring Rep. Wayne Harper, R-West Jordan, said Monday to members of the House Political Subdivisions committee. "We just need to make sure we're doing the best thing to relieve congestion; to build the right type of projects."
Some lobbyists and lawmakers have wondered if Harper's bill is retribution against UTA because the agency received significant funding during the November election last year to build four TRAX lines and commuter rail. Many lawmakers were disappointed because they thought not enough money went to roads.
UTA attorney Bruce Jones said on Friday the "there's always an undercurrent" of bad feelings in bill's like Harper's but that he believed the bill is not a result of the election last year.
"There is an indirect connection, but I don't think that's the primary factor in this," Jones said.
By combining UDOT and UTA under one agency, Harper said he believes the state will be able build transportation projects more efficiently. Right now, transit and roads are looked at separately in terms of what should be built and when.
He has said that comparing roads and transit together to determine what should be built will make the state's transportation system more efficient.
House Minority Leader Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake City, said Monday that he thought Harper's bill might "break" an agency that is already efficiently run.
"I think they've been recognized over and over again as the most efficient transportation network in the country," Becker said. "Explain to me what is broken and what would be improved by having UTA be part of what is basically a highway administration?"
UTA officials, the League of Cities and Towns, Salt Lake City business leaders and some lawmakers also contend Harper's bill is fraught with problems. UTA general manager John Inglish said it could impact current bus service, and delay the TRAX and commuter rail projects that Salt Lake and Utah county residents voted to fund this November.
There's also a question about how taking over UTA's financing and operations could impact the state's bond rating. The state would be taking on billions of bond debt that is being used to build rail projects.
UTA spokesman Justin Jones said his agency would gladly provide lawmakers any information if they decided to study the issue of combining UTA with UDOT.
"The bill raised a lot of concerns and issues that are very complex," Jones said, adding that "anytime anyone wants to come and see how UTA works and functions, we welcome that."
Because members of the House Political Subdivisions Committee did not take a vote on the bill, it will remain in committee. When committees end this week, it will be sent to the House Rules Committee, which could decide to send it out for a vote on the House floor.