November 8, 2019

"If you want a good job get a good education, that's a truism. That is in fact truth. So that's why our emphasis on education is so much. Get a good education, get a good job." Governor Herbert

NARRATOR: KUED presents, The Governor's Monthly News Conference, an exchange Letween Utah reporters and Governor Gary Herbert.

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Good morning. Great to be with you on a beautiful fall day. I hope you've been outside to see the great weather. Let me just begin by talking about upcoming elections.

As we know in about a week and a half we're going to have elections, they're municipal elections. And they're very important. We have a lot of people running for office in our cities. And a lot of issues to be taken care of out there. I may be just a little bit biased, as you know, I come from local government. But I do believe local government really is where the rubber meets the road. And sometimes we have it in the kind of a poor turnout scenario. It's not a presidential election, it's not a gubernatorial race time of year. But these municipal elections are extremely important.

Just to give you an idea I've written down some notes here. We have 1124 different candidates running for office. That's a lot. We have 24 mayors. We have a number of issues out there that are going to be talked about, such as the changes of county government, school bond elections, recreational facility bonds, increasing the sales tax in some communities, local zoning issues, bonding for fire stations, public safety. We're going to have our first mayor of our newest city, Brighton, will be elected. So it's important that we understand I think the importance of municipal elections and we've tried to, in Utah, make it easy.

We say get out and vote, and anymore you don't even have to get out to vote. You can vote by mail. Those who have received their ballots in the mail. They just need to make sure that their vote fill them out and postmarked before the election day. One day before, so November 4th. The election day is November the 5th. 

For those who want to change their address make, or registration you can go to vote Utah dot, Utah, voteutah.gov. Get it backwards there. Voteutah.gov and you can change your address an register. For those who are really procrastinators you can actually show up on election day. We have same day registration where you can register and vote on November the 5th. So there's really no excuse for people not to be informed and to get out and vote. We've made it so that you can do so. And again I'll just reiterate a lot of issues, a lot of important people running for office, that need your participation out there.

So please, Utah, get out and vote on these municipal elections.

REPORTER: So?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Ha? What questions have you got for me, Eric?

ERIK NEILSEN, KUED: So, just follow up on that, would you care to comment on what's going on in San Juan County right now with the issues surrounding the Navajo voters not being informed, maybe some electioneering going on down there?

GOVERNOR HERBERT:  Well it seems like that's kind of been an area of controversy. It's unfortunate. It's I think we need to make sure we conduct ourselves according to the law. And we got to conduct ourselves with good demeanor and professionalism.

So whatever's taking place down there I think we need to get people together and say, "you know we're all on the same team. "we're all Americans. "we're all Utahns." And we ought to in fact make sure that nobody's disenfranchised and we make it easy for people to participate, right.

We just got through talking about what we've done on the election process to make it easy for people to register and to vote, vote by mail. It's just not that hard. And the responsibility for us, as citizens, is to be informed and to participate. And to vote, let our voice be heard. Or even sit opposition. So I hope that they can kind of get their act together better down there, and be more inclusive rather than exclusive.

BEN WINSLOW, FOX-13: Governor, tax policy is a big topic right now. Would you support a special session with what has been proposed so far?

GOVERNOR HERBERT:  Well, and there's still work to be done on what the proposal is and what they're going to settle on. The task force has done a good job of getting out and getting a lot of public comment over these last seven or eight months since first started talking about tax modernization and tax reform.

So I think a special session is still on the table if we can have some kind of consensus between the senate and the house, and really the body of 104 legislators. So if that happens I certainly would be prepared to sit down and discuss that and call a special session. I think their trending in the right direction. A number of different issues and proposals out there. There's going to be some more public comment opportunities. I think at least two more public hearing opportunities.

So I appreciate the fact that legislature really is taking this seriously. They've been out there I think very open and transparent getting comments and input from different stakeholders around the state and certainly the citizens of Utah. And so I appreciate the good process and their commitment to finding a solution to tax reform.

BEN WINSLOW, FOX-13: But what do you support of the proposals that the Republican co-chairs of the Tax Reform Task Force has proposed? Do you support the sales tax on some services? Do you support the income tax cut? What about the idea of removing, possibly, the constitutional earmark for education on the income tax? 

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Well, the first two I do support. Certainly the concept of having a more equitable tax system. And some things that aren't being taxed probably ought to be taxed. We ought to, in fact, provide in that process a significant tax cut to the people of Utah. And the proposals have been, you know, anywhere from two to four hundred million down to 50 or 75 million. But I think the intent should be, if we're going to have this tax reform, that included in that effort is in fact a tax cut for the people of Utah. And that's what I think the legislature is trying to do.

The earmark on income tax which goes to education I would support it if they find a buy-in from the educational stakeholders and they can show that there's going to be a sustainable revenue stream for education. That's the worry, is if we take away the income tax earmark we're somehow going to be shortchanged when it comes to our portion of revenue that needs to go into education. And I believe that that can be overcome by the way, but that is going to take a collaborative effort with the stakeholders of education, UEA, principals, superintendents, PTA people, and saying okay there is another way to in fact guarantee a revenue stream for education. And I think if that happens then the earmark could be taken off. But if, and only if, we can provide another alternative.

BEN WINSLOW, FOX-13: So does that mean you would call a special session if you can get all of this worked out by December.

GOVERNOR HERBERT:  Yes, if everybody's on the same page on board and we've got support, yes. Part of the reason would be if there's going to be an income tax cut and tax cut's generally it'd be nice to have that effective January 1st of next year. If there needs to be some tweaking of the legislate, legislatively. We can do that during the general sessions. So, again I think it gives us kind of two bites of the apple. And the timeliness of having it ready for January 1st is something I think the legislature is concerned about.

BEN WINSLOW, FOX-13: How do you feel about the idea of a food tax, or raising the food tax?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: You know, I again, tax equality and tax fairness and tax sustainability is what is the best tax policy. And so rather than have kind of a shotgun approach on taxing on food I think the legislature's proposing a more rifled approach.

Saying that, if people who are below, you know, draw a line where you want to say below this level there ought to be some help, and giving relief on the taxes, and you're, if you're in poverty not only do we not have you pay the taxes we don't have you pay for the food. So there's kind of a gradation there.

But those making over 100 thousand dollars a year probably can afford to pay the sales tax on food. And so, amount of, in tax fairness those who are at the lower end of the economic spectrum shouldn't have to pay the tax. And I think with voucher, with tax credits, with the different options we have in the tax code that can actually be arranged so that if we put the sales tax back on food that those who are vulnerable don't have to pay.

BRADY MCCOMBS, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Governor, where do you stand on the proposed conversion therapy ban that DOPL was considering? Do you think they should adopt it?

GOVERNOR HERBERT:  Well, again, as you recall I proposed this back in June. And we tried legislatively to come to an agreement. We weren't able to get that across the finish line, so, I just believe, hey rather than wait for a full year why don't we turn this over to experts, Department of Professional Licensing, I asked them to take a look at it, The Psychologist Licensing Board. Let the experts weigh in on it. Let's see what the science tells us, what the data shows us and see if we can compose a rule. That process has worked pretty well and when I first proposed it everybody seemed to be hey, that's a, that's a novel approach. That's maybe a good way.

The legislation actually authorizes our Department of Professional Licensing to do these kinds of things. To give parameters and guidance on what you can or can't do as a therapist. I don't know of anybody, by the way, if there is it's certainly a minority, that does not oppose conversion therapy. So we're really kind of all together on that. And the only question seems to be, is it written in such a way that there's some, too broad, will it impact on parental rights inappropriately? Does it impact on religious beliefs inappropriately?

Those are issues I think are legitimate questions. But I believe can be worked out. And should be able to be worked out. As you recall, from six months ago, I never did say that there's not an opportunity in the future for legislative impact and input. And so there may be some need. We'll have to wait and see. But, I know the process we've gone through now. I feel good about the process. I don't want to presuppose all the outcomes they're in the process of reviewing all the comments. But I do expect that in sometime in the near future that there'll be rule released and say, "this is the rule."

BRADY MCCOMBS, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Do you prefer that DOPL modifies though to fit the concerns raised by the church and go that route, or would be okay if it goes back to the legislature. 

GOVERNOR HERBERT: You know, I think DOPL's doing a great job of what we've asked them to do. I think they've got a lot of information from different quarters and different stakeholders and people out there giving them input. And I think with that input they're developing a good rule. I believe based on science and based on the data and the research that's been done out there. We'll see what the end result will be. I think there are legitimate concerns of the baseline out there. And might maybe need some clarification. Again, I'm just hopeful. I just think that we're pretty close on most everything that is out there, and some of the concerns that've been raised I think can be addressed.

BEN WINSLOW, FOX-13: Do you think, then would you support modifying this rule yet again, to deal with this, or?

GOVERNOR HERBERT:  Well we'll have to wait and see what the final rule is. You know, we kind of know at least in concept. And there might be some clarifying language needed to make sure people are not jumping to unwarranted conclusions. So let's just wait for the process to finish. Again I never said that there's not the opportunity. I mean the prerogative of the legislature is that we can weigh in on any rule that's been done. Say we want to trump that with legislation. They tried in this past legislative session on this issue. It didn't happen. So we're going to give them a leg up on it. And I hope that we find it so that we don't need legislation. But if we need to tweak it here or there that's certainly going to be the legislature' prerogative.

BRADY MCCOMBS, ASSOCIATED PRESS: What do you think about church leaders coming out and expressing their concerns and their opposition to how the rule's written right now?

GOVERNOR HERBERT:  I think it's very appropriate for any faith based organization, church leaders, any citizen out there, anybody that has concerns to weigh in. They're comments are just as important as any other comments. But no important, no more important than any other comments. Such is part of the mix out there. People weighing in and letting their voice be heard. That's the way the process works and I appreciate everybody speaking their mind and saying here's some concerns and let's see what we can do and address it. They're all being considered. And it'll help us lead to a final rule.

MICHAEL ORTON, CAPITAL PRESS CORPS: Governor, related to your comments about taxation reform and poverty, Wells Fargo Bank has released a promo and a report I think that indicates that the bigger problem behind homelessness and affordable housing is really one of income. And so in the past I know that you have related your concerns that minimum wage issues is really one of education. Do you still feel that way, or do you think it's time to revisit the minimum wage situation.

GOVERNOR HERBERT:  You know I'm a free market guy. I believe the market actually does adjust as it's warranted and wanted to do. And again we have shortages of teachers, for example, in education. We see pressure now raising salaries for teachers to recruit and retain. That's a market force that's taking place out there. We have shortages of plumbers and welders. And we have shortages of computer technicians.

The marketplace is adjusting. Education is clearly the key. Even during the worst economic times we've had in Utah, during the Great Recession, those that had education and degrees the unemployment rate never exceeded five percent in the nation. Those that in fact had only a high school diploma you know, were at 10 percent, and those that had less than a high school diploma was at 15. There's clearly a corollary.

There are exceptions to the rule, but clearly the more education you have the more options you have in life, the more choices you have, and the better chance you have to get a good job.

When I go around and talk to our young people in elementary school and public education I say, "If you want a good job get a good education." that's a truism. That is in fact truth. So that's why our emphasis on education is so much. Get a good education, get a good job. The minimum wage is almost to me irrelevant. There's probably hardly any business out there that's starting salaries are not higher than the minimum wage. Because that's what the market is demanding. And that's where I think you should let the market tell us what the value of jobs are.

AMY JOI O’DONOGHUE, DESERET NEW: Governor, there's a political donnybrook going on in D.C. Of course, over this impeachment inquiry. It's a circus every day. Recently Utah leaders from many of our rural counties weighed in on this and sent a letter to our delegation asking them to stand firm in their protection of Donald Trump. Where do you stand on that issue?

GOVERNOR HERBERT:  It reminds me of when I was playing baseball. Years ago in my youth, played a lot of baseball. And when the team, even our own team would make errors we used to yell from the dugout, "put a tent on that circus." I think that's what we need to say about Washington. Put a tent on the circus. There's just a lot of things going on that we all are puzzled about. The decorum or lack thereof, hyper partisanship, on both sides of the aisle.

This is serious, and we should be treating this as a serious issue. There are certainly questions. There's a process outlined in our constitution to answer these questions. Impeachment, the Senate trial. You know, let that roll out. I don't know what the answers are to the questions. I know there's questions being raised. But there's a process outlined to do this. And let's hope that they do it with decorum, with professionalism. And whatever the answers to the questions are we'll lead this to a conclusion. That being said, it's disappointing on many levels to see what's taking place out there. It really is like a circus.

BEN WINSLOW, FOX-13: So do you support the impeachment proceedings going forward then, Governor?

GOVERNOR HERBERT:  I think the process is outlined in our constitution and if people have questions there's a way to get answers. But I don't like it being partisan, so hyper partisanship that the hyperbole, the exaggeration that's taking place out there. We have somebody that reads a transcript, he says, only to find out that he now labels it a parody; "I was making it up as I went." You know that's not the way you handle things out there. We have people barging in to closed door meetings and that doesn't look too good I think to the public. But we're all wanting, why do we have this circus atmosphere going on back in Washington D.C.? No work getting done, you know. And they ought to get back to the work of the people and take care of business.

There's some serious issues out there that need to be taken care of. And we're running to an election year and that means we slow down anyway. This just making the slowdown even more acute. And I don't think it's Congress' finest hour.

MICHAEL ORTON, CAPITAL PRESS CORPS: You once described President Trump's performance and actions as erratic. Do you think that that's increased recently, or stayed the same, or how would you rate his performance these days.

GOVERNOR HERBERT: You know, his personality is unique. What can I say? I mean he says things that sometimes people think about would never say in polite company. But and some people like that. Other people are being off-putted by it. So I, again, he has a unique style. I can tell you that at least standing for, speaking for some of the things he's doing I know why some of our local government leaders, our county commissioners exactly, or precisely are supporting because for the first time they have an entree to the Oval Office and to the White House. Where there seems to be some consideration and concern for some of their needs. I've been with Western Governors Association, a very bipartisan organization that said, "you know what, we like the fact we have access "to cabinet members better than we've had "in previous administrations."

So, it's not all bad there's some good things that are happening out there. And it's kind of being overshadowed by this circus atmosphere we see out there. So, it's unfortunate. It's not the way I would do it. But personalities are like belly buttons we've all got one.

MICHAEL ORTON, CAPITAL PRESS CORPS: If we're going to tent that circus is it primarily coming from executive or legislative do you think?

GOVERNOR HERBERT:  You know I think they both take their turns being in the ring. You know and, they ought to just kind of bring a little more decorum I think to the atmosphere in Washington.

REPORTERS: Governor...

BEN WINSLOW, FOX-13: Governor, do you have any thoughts about John Huntsman Junior potentially entering the governor’s race. You know, you served with him he may be potentially jumping back into the race going up against Spencer Cox whom you've thrown your support behind?

GOVERNOR HERBERT:  Listen, let me just tell you that I have the greatest respect and admiration for John Huntsmen and his wife Mary Kaye. They have been dedicated committed public servants and served in many different capacities. He is the supreme diplomat. If I was president I would make him the Secretary of State in a heartbeat. He understand foreign affairs and diplomacy probably as well as anyone in our country.

So again that's come from years of experience and work. And a willingness to serve. And he's served in Democratic and Republican administrations. If he decides to, and I don't know, he's not saying to me about getting in the race. I know there's a lot of speculation. And you probably know as much about it as I do. He will certainly be a contender. And he's had the job before, and he's a very bright guy. And so it's good for the people of Utah to have good choices, good options out there. Spencer Cox is one of them.

So that'll be a, certainly a horse race, and others out there that are vying to maybe get in, some announced and some not announced, so that's what elections are about competition of the best ideas and who can best in fact lead and get people to follow. That's leadership. And make sure we have the spirit of collaboration cooperation which we've defined in Utah. Which we see not too much of in Washington D.C. So, good luck to all of them. And again I have great admiration, and welcome home John and Mary Kaye. 

REPORTER: If Huntsmen does get in the race would you continue to support Spencer Cox?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: I've already said I would support Spencer. I didn't know about the Ambassador Huntsmen maybe considering this, but I'm not going to pull back my support there. I'm not going to speak against anybody else out there, but again, there's a lot of good people out there and that's good for Utah that they've got multiple good choices. I think Spencer Cox has earned the right to run. And certainly has demonstrated his own expertise and capability and be able to hit the road running if he's elected.

BRADY MCCOMBS, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Utah has had a lot of vaping illnesses, as you know. From what you've been briefed from your health officials and others. Why do you think Utah has so many, and what do you think should be done to address this outbreak?

GOVERNOR HERBERT:  Well, vaping is has been a concern for me for many years. In fact, I proposed that we ought to at least under the heading of equity, just like we tax tobacco, we ought to tax vaping. And I think there's rising concern about what that does and the health impacts and there's some uncertainty. THC's been mentioned, and we don't know whether it does or does not cause health problems in vaping.

So I don't want to jump to conclusions there but I think that we certainly have the role in government to say, "you ought to be cautious, "you ought to be careful." there are some health consequences to vaping out there. We may not know all the causes, but we would be derelict in our duty if we didn't say, "be careful." and that's what out department of health is doing. So I think research will eventually lead us to some stronger conclusions and better understanding. But please be aware that vaping is hazardous to your health.

BEN WINSLOW, FOX-13: Do you support the idea of maybe potentially increasing the tax again, trying to get it up to the same level as tobacco?

GOVERNOR HERBERT:  I think it's just a fairness issue. They're very similar products in what they do and how they're used. So I would support that. It hasn't been proposed that I've heard of. But it's part of maybe tax reform and this tax modernization. It ought to be included in the mix at least as a discussion point.

BENJAMIN WOOD, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Governor, we're hearing about a shortage of beds at our homeless shelters. It's getting cold outside. What does the state need to do to get people through the winter.

GOVERNOR HERBERT:  Well, we've heard about it, and again, this idea of transitioning from The Road Home to four different resource centers is taking place. And there's always a little bit of growing pain I think in any kind of transition. I know we've had some talk about the women's shelter which typically we have about 200. We had about 270 that showed up. But none of them went without shelter. Some maybe could go to the new women's facility. But they were put in to Saint Vincent de Paul's dining hall, and other shelter opportunities out there. So we don't want anybody to be forced to stay on street or sleep in a car. And that's not happening. I know we have a coalition, downtown coalition on this issue.

The Lieutenant Governor is bringing those people together to see where we're at, what are our needs in the future? What do we need to mitigate any additional pressures that may come. The resource homes are providing great help for people where they can get self -help. And improve their lot in life to become better productive members of society. So, again this is a work in progress, I'm very optimistic this is going to all work out well. That we're going to have enough beds, and that we have adequate supply of bed space outside of these resource homes to accommodate any overflow needs. So, I'm, I'm very optimistic.

REPORTER: Governor, what are your comments about the continuing opposition to the Inland Port, such as we saw at the meeting last week, the board meeting?

GOVERNOR HERBERT:  Well, we have people that are almost professional in their opposition. And it would be nice if they added something to the dialogue and the discussion. I think the Inland Port Board has been very willing to listen to rational discussion and opposition. And we're still, you know, early on.

The stated intent of the board, and the new director has been to make this Inland Port the cleanest most green port in America. And, I, I don't think that development out there and being good stewards of the Earth are mutually exclusive ideas. There needs to be more of a spirit of collaboration and cooperation. I think they have it done. I saw an editorial here today that said, you know, "blowing your whistle is not dialogue, "that's not intelligent discussion, just disrupting other people's ability to talk and discuss and work out issues." So, I guess I'm not totally surprised. It's a little disappointing. That's not a good process. And we've have some that erupted, you know, in some violence. That was very disappointing.

So we ought to be respectful for differences of opinion. I would just remind everybody the Inland Port, and devolvement of the Northwest Quadrant has always been on the Salt Lake City master plan. This is not new. This is not a surprise. How it's being done is a little bit of a modification. But I appreciate those who stepped up and said, "we can work together on this" and let's see if we can't find a way to improve it, "and make sure that we have a development out there that we can be proud of, that helps Salt Lake City, helps the state and is respectful of our environmental concerns."

ERIK NEILSEN, KUED: Governor, thank you we've reached the end of our time. We appreciate you being here today.

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Thank you, great to be with you.

NARRATOR: This has been The Governor's Monthly News Conference. An archive of transcripts, video, and audio is available online. Please visit KUED.org. Thanks for joining us.

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