SALT LAKE CITY -- As the newest state senator from Northern Utah, Stuart Adams will jump into the state's latest budget battle with a bit of hands-on experience.
Adams, a Layton resident and former Utah House member, was sworn into office Wednesday at the state Capitol as the replacement for former Sen. Greg Bell in Senate District 22.
Bell is the Fruit Heights Republican elevated earlier this month to Utah's lieutenant governor, leaving an opening for Davis County Republicans to nominate a replacement.
Just before the special session, Gov. Gary Herbert accepted the Davis GOP's nominee for the job.
"You will serve our state ... with discernment and decorum," wrote Herbert in the acceptance letter.
Adams said his first session as a house member in 2002 dealt with cutting the budget by $90 million.
It may be deja vu for Adams as lawmakers in their next planned session deal with red ink in the state budget, estimated to be as large as $850 million.
The Senate leadership is entertaining the idea of increasing alcohol and tobacco taxes, but Adams said he hasn't taken sides on how to erase the projected deficit.
"I'm still working to get my arms around that," Adams said after the swearing-in ceremony with his family milling nearby.
Earlier in the day, Adams resigned as Chairman of the Utah Transportation Commission. However, he will stay on as the leader of the Military Installation Development Authority, a group working on the Falcon Hill project at Hill Air Force base.
Herbert has not named a replacement for Adams on the Transportation Commission.
Following the Capitol ceremony, Adams joined with the GOP caucus to pick Bell's replacement as majority assistant whip. North Ogden Sen. Allen Christensen was one of three candidates but was not chosen for the Senate leadership position.
As Adams joined the private GOP caucus, his wife, Susan, said watching her husband return to the statehouse was deja vu for her, too.
"We've been through this before," she said, recalling her husband's four-year stint in the House. " With our children older now, he'll probably have more time to devote to it."
The remaining term for Adams runs through next year.
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