June 20, 2007

"We're meeting with parents, teachers, superintendents, auxiliary support staff, principals, and we spend a lot of time sorting through the issues. And I walk out of every one of these issues with a heightened sense of urgency about teacher pay." -Gov Huntsman

DAN BAMMES, KUER: Governor, thanks for joining us today. The state's revenue estimating committee once again says that Utah state government is going to have a big surplus at the end of the fiscal year, or June 30th. So what's your plan for spreading all the good news around over the coming year?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Well first of all, I think, Dan, that it says something very good about the state of our economy, which I've said for a while is the best in the country, and I measure that by job growth, which has been about 4.5 percent, unemployment, which has been pretty consistent at about 2.5 percent, 2.4 percent. But I think most importantly you've got to look at wage increases, which have been about 10 percent, 10 12 percent, which it's one thing to get jobs, and it's another thing to get jobs where you've got steady increases in wages, which is exactly what we've needed as a community. It's hard to know what the surplus is going to be at the end of the year, I wouldn't even want to hazard a guess. But it won't be what it was last year.

But it will certainly be enough to continue many of the good things that I think need to be done in the state, and it really would start with teacher pay. That's going to be a number one priority for me, and to that end it would, I think, behoove both parties, for the state office and the legislature, to have a civil dialogue, and to sort out whatever differences they might have beyond vouchers. Pay increase for teachers, we're still probably at least $5,000 short of where I think we need to be to meet regional expectations.

Why do I say that? I say that because the marketplace is leaving us devoid of probably 400 teaching slots this fall as we begin the '07 school year. 400 slots. This compared to 200 last year. Why is that the case? I would argue it's the case because we are still discounting our teachers in the form of compensation. And until we hit the regional average, I think we're going to have an outflow of people who are studying to become teachers. So that is going to be a priority.

Number two will likely be closing the gap on the uninsured, and I would love to see our state with a mandated policy for at least catastrophic coverage, and that means the insurance companies and the providers and all the stakeholders need to continue meeting, getting together on how we can come up with really affordable policies that would allow everybody to have at least something at the catastrophic level. I don't know what that means in terms of budgeting, but it will mean something.

And third is probably air quality. Cleaning up our act. The air is awful in the metropolitan area. We've had recent red days, we have too many of them, both during this period of the year and certainly during the winter months. And we need to clean up our act. I don't know what that's going to look like, but believe me, we're working on exactly what our proposals ought to be by the end of the year as we put our budget together. But everything I do will basically be driven by those three key categories.

DAN BAMMES, KUER: Tax cut not on that list?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: I would love to take the remaining portion of the tax on food off. I don't know what that would be, maybe $70 million worth. I don't know what we're left with, but for me a tax cut priority would be that. But mostly it's bringing in line teacher compensation. And listen, I'm getting around to every single school district in the state. I'm at about 32 of 40. And by the end of the year I will have visited every single school district, and I don't think it's ever been done before. I don't know that Patti gets out to visit every one of the school districts. We're meeting with parents, teachers, superintendents, auxiliary support staff, principals, and we spend a lot of time sorting through the issues. And I walk out of every one of these issues with a heightened sense of urgency about teacher pay. You can cut and paste around the issue, you can come up with clever schemes to try to hit the mark on teacher pay, but it comes right down to compensation. And we are short of where I think a state whose economy is performing as well as it is, and where cost of living is increasing steadily, we're short in that particular area. So that will lead the charge.

LISA RILEY ROCHE, DESERET MORNING NEWS: Governor, how realistic is it, though, in an election year, to not have tax cuts on your agenda, or high up on your agenda when you've got a legislature that is going to be looking for re election? Aren't they going to be pushing hard for tax cuts?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Well, first of all it depends what the surplus is. We don't know what the surplus is going to be. Second of all, I would consider the sales tax coming off of food fully to be the kind of tax cut that has a positive impact on everybody, longitudinally, every single one of our citizens. So that would have to be seen as a pretty good tax cut, tax reform move. But we're not going to really get down to serious discussions about tax cuts or where the money ought to be placed until later in the year. Again, we're scratching the surface at this point trying to guesstimate what the numbers are going to look like, but we're not going to know realistically probably until September sometime.

LISA RILEY ROCHE, DESERET MORNING NEWS: But you've already run into trouble trying to get the sales tax off food, you were able to get a piece of it off in the past, but there was a lot of resistance even to that. And certainly it's been made clear that there's plenty of opposition to removing all the sales tax on food.

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Well, there's opposition in lots of things. But I would say we haven't run into an impenetrable barrier, because for two years running now we've been able to make progress on sales tax coming off of food. We've lessened it two years in a row. And I would argue that we could probably have another good year of taking that burden off of our citizens. An impenetrable barrier, no. Difficult, of course, all these things are. But I think if you look in the world of tax cut possibilities, that, to my mind, would probably be one of the most attractive at this point.

RICHARD PIATT, KSL 5 NEWS: So Governor, turning to education for just a moment, this week the legislature is meeting in interim to talk with the attorney general about the way the whole voucher issue has played out. The Supreme Court obviously has taken pressure off the legislature and you and made a decision on this, but in the meantime, the attorney general had told the state Board of Education to institute the vouchers based on house bill 174, and they did not do that. Now they're talking about whether they should have gone ahead and followed the attorney general's advice, and who has more authority and power. What do you think about what's going on there? Should have the state Board of Education instituted vouchers based on 174 alone?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: I think we have a great opportunity, come November, for all of our interested citizens to cast a vote on vouchers. Lest we get caught up in the rhetoric and the hyperbole of the issue, let's remember that we've got a real unique opportunity in front of the state to get smart on vouchers, and for people to determine for themselves what they think is right longer term for the state. And thank goodness now we've got a November vote that will be up or down, plain and simple, and so it behooves all citizens to get smart on the issue.

Beyond that, I think the school board and the legislature and the attorney general's office need to work out their differences so that it in no way has a deleterious impact on teachers and students. That's all that we ought to care about at this point. Teachers and students. It's a pretty simple thing. We earn the money as a state through the way we perform economically, we appropriate the money for our schools, teachers, and kids, and we do our best as a community to educate them, to meet the challenges of an ever changing world. That's what we have to stay focused on. It's easy to get caught up in the skirmishes and the internecine warfare, but the big picture here is a November vote that we all need to prepare for. Teacher compensation and getting adequate education to our kids.

GLEN WARCHOL, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Governor Huntsman, to follow up on that question a bit, the attorney general seems to have gotten himself in a cross fire on this issue of vouchers, also on his role, his duties, responsibilities towards the school board and theirs towards him. You're his boss. Is it time to weigh in and clarify this issue?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Well, he's independently elected by the people. So it's a different set of circumstances than one in which we had an appointed attorney general. It is a legal issue, and he's working it through with the school board, and I'll leave it in that channel right now. My only hope is that it would not, again, have any kind of deleterious impact on our support for teachers and kids.

There was a very legitimate legal issue about whether vouchers should have started when the law called for it. We're all here as people who have to obey the law. We have to implement the law. And so as far as I'm concerned, I thought that vouchers should have been implemented on the day that they were designated to be implemented. That was the law of the land until we, of course, had the court case suggest otherwise. And Mark is doing what he thinks is right and appropriate as attorney general, and as I said in a speech before higher ed and public ed and members of the legislative appropriations committee, let's make sure that these discussions don't so intensify and sour the relationships that we have one with another where we can't get the big picture issues done.

RICHARD PIATT, KSL5 NEWS: So the legislature…

DAN BAMMES, KUER: Do you intend to campaign on behalf of the voucher issue?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: I've said before that I'm going to be an honest broker on the voucher debate. Everyone knows where I stand, I supported vouchers. I signed it into law. And I'll vote for vouchers. What is important to me is that our citizens, and I will encourage that all of our citizens participate in this vote in November, and by participating they get smart on the issue, and that is getting beyond the rhetoric, and that is actually learning the policy that is behind a voucher and the impact that it would have, good or bad, for our schools and user students, and our economy longer term. That, I think, is the best role for the governor to play at this point. Everyone knows where I stand on vouchers. What I don't want it to become is a highly divisive, polarizing debate. We can do it civilly, we can do it based upon good information guiding us right through to November, and then in November we have a definitive vote that will spell out a conclusion once and for all on this issue.

RICHARD PIATT, KSL5 NEWS: Certain legislators have indicated there might be interest in following up on vouchers next session if the voucher issue is defeated this fall. Do you have an appetite to revisit the issue again somehow?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: I think it's too early to tell. I wouldn't want to speculate on next legislative session. But I do think the voice of the people is a very, very powerful thing, and it shouldn't be underestimated. And when the numbers are in in November, I think that will largely manifest the appetite of our state for voucher policy going forward.

DAN BAMMES, KUER: Governor, we had a fatal attack by a black bear in American Fork canyon earlier this week. A number of different agencies reacting to that, but you of course supervise the Utah division of wildlife resources. Do you feel that something more could have been done to warn campers, possibly prevent something like this from happening?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: First of all, let me extend our condolences to the Ives family on the loss of Samuel. It's really a tragic incident. It is the first black bear death in the history of our state. Unprecedented.

You have at play two agencies, you have the department of agriculture federally which runs the forests that we're talking about, and then you have department of natural resources, which is part of the state. And they went by the book in terms of public notices, and once they heard about the bear taking after it to try to take it out, as they did that morning. What we're finding, because of the drought conditions that our state is facing, is that you've got two habitats that are coming together. You have the bear habitat and the human habitat that have become increasingly close, if not overlapping. And so you have probably unprecedented movement by the bear population into camp grounds. And therefore the books that we have used to kind of guide our operations and responses to these things may be somewhat anachronistic.

Maybe we need to update the book. And I'll be talking to DNR, we've already had briefings. The department of agriculture, to look at this case, to see if, beyond going by the book, which is what of course everybody did, if there's something more now that we need to do in terms of notifications. And believe me, we will do everything necessary to save human life. That's what our job is. And, again, I just have to express condolences on a tragic, tragic situation. And we'll take a look at the evidence here, and we'll move forward and see if there is something more that can be done in these circumstances.

TOM JORDAN, METRO NEWS: Governor, I want to revisit air quality for a moment. You, of course, have just moved into a leadership position with the western governors association. In terms of your, of what you see coming in the way of regional efforts, what sort of thing do you hope to be able to accomplish in a position like that? How do you pull the region together in a way that doesn't damage, say, the coal economy part of this state and yet balances it with the energy needs of California or something?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Pushing aggressively new technologies and new approaches to powering our economy. I really think we're on the cusp of a revolution, here. Thomas Freedman has written eloquently about it, and I think he's on to something in terms of undertaking perhaps the largest project ever in the history of the United States, which is really cleaning up for 100 years of industrialization, and now we're basically looking at cleaning up from that period of industrialization. And moreover, as we move forward, doing so in an energy efficient, in a clean energy way that not only produces new technologies and enhances our economic competitiveness, but also creates jobs in a new economy. And it isn't about leaving people behind so much as it is embracing new technologies.

Now part of the problem is that I think Washington has been a little tone deaf on this issue. There has not bench out of the executive branch, or congress, about new initiatives, and prioritizing energy policy. In the new world, shall I say. So in that vacuum, nature abhors a vacuum, and so does politics. You've got several western governors' states that are saying, "We're tired of the status quo, we want change." But as we bring about change, we have to recognize that there's an enormously complicated transition to make.

One of the reasons I signed up with the western climate initiative was they were all consumer states. And I thought it would be important to have a producer state in the mix, sitting at the table, trying to figure out the road ahead. And I suspect we'll have two or three new states that will likely sign on fairly soon. It's moving very, very quickly, and you'll probably see three important prongs out of this initiative, and it would be my hope that under the leadership of Dave Freudenthal, who's the chairman this year, and I'll become chair next year, that we can begin to harmonize the region around three key areas.

One would be energy efficiency, where we're quite aggressive and trying to hit a very high mark by 2015.

The second would be a renewable portfolio standard that would be adequate for the west. You know, you've got to start talking about a renewable portfolio if you're ever going to make renewable forms of energy viable. And I think our future is going to be significantly powered by renewable forms of energy.

And the third would be dealing with carbon emissions, and that is moving more toward an improved carbon footprint for the region. Now that will come, in part, through setting goals state by state, but setting also a regional goal in terms of emissions. That will be looking realistically at maybe a cap and trade proposal for trading carbon emissions, and there are many groups that are looking at the metrics that would undergird this kind of approach. Europe has looked at it, the north eastern states have looked at it. But it would have to be something uniquely western in that regard. And then finally, on that piece, it would be incentivizing the movement toward new technologies, and embracing things like carbon sequestration technology. Which, based on the status quo world might be eight to ten years away. If we move things along expeditiously, if we make it a regional priority and try to force congress and Washington to act as quickly as possible, I suspect that we could do it in five years. Which would be a wonderful thing to have carbon free emissions from coal generated power. We're not there, but there are significant strides that are being made.

It's going to take a concerted effort on the part of states and regulators in Washington, and congress and the energy department to make this a reality. But it's happening, and there's no turning back. And we have launched, I think, a very significant revolution in energy, and we're going to see all kinds of things change that will improve our quality of life, that will enhance our air quality, that will, I think, fortify our economic competitiveness going forward. Because whatever we do the rest of the world is going to have to follow.

To be sure, it isn't a state nor a regional problem, it's an international problem. Because a lot of the air quality problems we have, I don't know whether it's 15 or 20 percent of the junk that we see, the particulate matter, is generated on the other side of the Pacific. And so it gets in the jet stream and it winds up in California and here. It's a global problem. So our leadership as a region and as a country will translate into, I think, a more aggressive posture internationally, dealing with the Chinas and the Indias, that really need to get serious about their carbon footprint as well.

TOM JORDAN, METRO NEWS: Do you see more state programs coming, more specific state programs? Because I know you've already been pretty aggressive on this.

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Well hang on for the ride. There will be a lot under what we've already started, a renewable portfolio standard that I hope to finalize soon, tail pipe standards that I think will be very important for the Wasatch Front. If people are tired of breathing the air, and if they're concerned about the health implications for their young kids, and I know many are, they should be outraged by our air quality. They really should. I am, and I'm just an elected person. I'm a dad more than anything else, and I want to see it improved, and I think in the next five years we can make some significant strides in improving air quality.

GLEN WARCHOL, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Governor Huntsman, how much of this can you do through executive functions, as opposed to going to the legislature? Because as I'm sure you know, many legislators don't share your enthusiasm and concern for this issue.

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Well, if we have enough red days, I suspect that you won't find too many legislators who aren't in favor of doing something about cleaning up the air, even if we have to take some extraordinary measures that we've never contemplated before. I don't think our air has ever been as bad as it is now, and when it begins to have an impact on health and on the next generation, and when you've got doctors who are saying, you can cut two years off your life expectancy just by breathing the air here, those are pretty sobering thoughts. And we do need to get smart. Again, there's a time and a place for all these things, and I do believe the time is now to act on air quality. And I suspect that when the data are laid out we're going to have a lot of good bipartisan support. This isn't a red or a blue issue. We all breathe the same air, for heaven's sake. So I suspect we'll have a lot of support on it at the right time.

RICHARD PIATT, KSL5 NEWS: How much resistance are you feeling on this particular issue, politically?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Not much. Not I've met with the industry folks, who of course want to sit down and talk about climate change initiatives. I've met with anyone who wants to come in, and of course they want to share their concerns about where we're going. But my response is always, we're entering a new period, here, and there's no turning back. And we've all got to embrace what the future holds, which will be a very aggressive movement toward new technologies that will power our future, and allow us to clean up our act and have more breathable air and more potable water. And that's just the trend that's occurring, and I think it's a very good one for our country generally. Because you've got to look in the period of industrialization that's occurred throughout the world in the last 20 to 30 years, and they're going to be undertaking a similar kind of revolution, and if we're there first, we have an enormous head start, therefore a unique competitive advantage economically to help the rest of the world clean up as well.

DAN BAMMES, KUER: Governor, we have just about three minutes left. There could be potentially some changes in the governance of education, if we want to get back to that issue. There were proposals in the last legislative session for partisan elections of state school board members, that proposal still apparently on the table. Others to have you appoint the state superintendent of public instruction. How do you feel about those proposals, and what do you think their political chances are? It would require changes in the state Constitution.

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: I think there will be discussion about this upcoming. I don't know where it's going to take us. I will, of course, look and review all of the proposals. For me it's pretty simple I want to make sure that our school board members who serve on the state board are responsive to their constituencies, are involved in election that creates the highest possible turnout. That allows the candidates to speak out about the most important issues we face as a state, which are education based, and that allows for a truly solid and thoughtful group of citizens who are serving at the state board level. Now whether that's partisan, bi parties, I don't know. I'm not prepared to answer that yet. But we're certainly going to look at proposals that are floated in the run up to the legislative session.

DAN BAMMES, KUER: A political level, do you think some of this is motivated simply by the state board's refusal, for example, to implement the voucher program? And there's a need to punish being felt among members of the legislature?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: I don't think so, because this has been thrown around as long as I've been in office, almost three years. So it kind of predates the voucher movement. So I don't that, it maybe intensified slightly because of the voucher debate. But I think these are very legitimate governance issues that have to be discussed, and that will be discussed in the next session.

DAN BAMMES, KUER: Again, you mentioned state programs on the area of air pollution. Anything specific, you're saying hang on for the ride. But tail pipe, things that are going to be proposed as legislation in the coming session?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Well I'm not just saying hang on for the ride, I'm saying take a look at what we've already done. Energy efficiency, renewable portfolio standards, becoming part of the western climate change initiative, we are probably as aggressive as any state in America right now as it relates to cleaning up our air. All of this will then be synthesized into what we then choose to put on our legislative docket as we approach the next session. I don't know exactly what it's going to look like, but we're, of course, in consultation with members of the legislature to see what would make sense.

DAN BAMMES, KUER: All right, well thank you very much, Governor, and we have a reminder that this and every Governor’s Monthly News Conference is available on line at uen.org and at kued.org. And thank you for joining us, and good night.

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