“This is a moment,” committee chair Rep. Calvin Musselman, R-West Haven, said, his face lighting up. “We try hard at the Pieruccis,” responded third-term Rep. Candice Pierucci, R-Herriman, while simultaneously rocking her bow-adorned baby, balancing a bottle and reaching for her 4-year-old son, who had also joined her at the Utah Capitol during the hectic final week of the legislative session. Pierucci, like a large and growing group of Utah legislators, is navigating the citizen Legislature’s whirlwind 45-day assembly all while juggling a separate career and caring for young children.
Smiles broke through the humdrum of a government operations hearing on Monday when committee members saw a fellow state lawmaker approach the mic with her 6-month-old baby.