June 2002

It's a difficult process, but the state is in good financial condition overall, and like any business or family during a period of economic downturn, we're having to prioritize the things that we do.

Reporters (in order of appearance):

KEN VERDOIA, KUED
CHRIS VANOCUR, KTVX
REBECCA WALSH, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
KERSTEN SWINYARD, ASSOCIATED PRESS
CRAIG HISPLOP, UTAH PUBLIC RADIO
JANICE GULLY, KCPW

Transcript:

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor, thanks for joining us today. The legislature has come into special session, it started the process of dealing with a $170 million shortfall in the looming fiscal year budget. With the crisis you've identified principles that you hope they will keep at the forefront. And one of those is, "Don't undermine our commitment to education." This has made other departments scream it will put a disproportionate burden on them. So how can you exempt such a substantial portion of the state budget from budget cuts in light of this economic situation we find ourselves in?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Ken, we could, I'm sure, spend the entire program talking about the budget. Perhaps the best way for me to answer your question would be to just make two points. The first is, we'll get through this. It's a difficult process, but the state is in good financial condition overall, and like any business or family during a period of economic downturn, we're having to prioritize the things that we do. With respect to the issue of education, we are going to have to make substantial reductions in our budgets. I believe it's going to boil down to a basic policy question. Do we continue to protect the quality of our education system and provide for crime prevention and the safety of our community, or, on the alternative, do we continue to subsidize water and to continue to build roads and buildings during this time? You can boil this discussion, I think, down to that choice. Now, I personally feel quite strongly that the answer to that is that we continue to protect the quality of education, and we continue to keep our prisons and our law enforcement adequately funded. And I believe we can accomplish that, and I believe we can get through this budget process. It really is raising some long-term, important policy questions that we won't completely deal with in the special session. But this is a difficult time, we have drought, we have an economic downturn, the stock market's not doing well right now, but in the long run it will right itself, the economy will come back. Utah is a solid place in the economy, we have lots of reasons for continued optimism, and I feel confident that we'll get through this and move forward with continued a great place in the world.

CHRIS VANOCUR, KTVX: Governor, on Capitol Hill you're starting to hear more talk about the T-word, taxes. And some of that talk is kind of taking on two dimensions, one, some suggestions that perhaps the legislature shouldn't have cut taxes so much during the good times, and also speculation that after the election, specifically next session, there may be some forms of tax increases.

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: There are no specific proposals out there right now, but that's a subject that has to be debated with almost every budget, and I'm sure that it will be in the next budget as well.

CHRIS VANOCUR, KTVX: If that were to happen, if there were to be tax increases, or at least suggestions, which areas do you think they would come from?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well, there are limited choices when it gets to taxes, and the truth is, it's a- - Tax policy is a combination of unhappy alternatives. And no one, there's no tax that people see as being the best one or the easiest one. And so I don't know that there are any easy choices or that there are any direct ones. There are no specific proposals now, but like every session, I suspect we'll go through a period where people will be looking at those alternatives.

REBECCA WALSH, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Governor, if legislators do cut higher ed and public ed budgets, what are you going to do? Does it depend on how much they cut?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well, I've laid out a set of principles that I think are very sound. I've indicated to them that I feel deeply that the state cannot allow ourselves to lose our triple A bond rating. It's something that saves us a lot of money, and it's a remarkably important thing to our state's reputation and it's consistent with our tradition. And so that means we can't be spending one-time money, or money that doesn't reoccur, on ongoing expenses. It means we've got to be careful with the level of bonding that we do, and it also means that we've got to be looking at the rainy day fund. We have taken away the money out of the rainy day fund, and it's my belief that part of this budget process has to be starting to restore that, even in a difficult time, because there's no certainty that we're at the bottom of this. We're using $173 million, but I'll remind you that this is the third time, or fourth time we've been through this just in the last few months, and that number keeps changing. The $173 million, frankly, assumes a 2 percent employment growth. I'm not sure that a 2 percent employment growth is all that realistic. The economists think it is. I have optimism but I would say that it's somewhat in question, and therefore we ought to be safe and have flexibility. That's another part of it, one of the principles. Chris referenced the pact that I want to assure that we have, that we're not diminishing the quality of our education system, and I think we've also got to make choices that won't diminish the economic recovery. So there are a lot of parameters that I've laid out, and I'm working with them on the details of it. Governors in this setting play sort of at the end of the process, and not always at the beginning. But they've been very cooperative, and I've been working along with them with my fiscal- - My budget director's been involved in all of their conversations.

TOM JORDAN, METRO NETWORKS: What kind of choices wouldn't damage the economic recovery?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well, there are some specific ones that I think would, and I think we've got to be quite cautious about those. We have quite an opportunity right now because of the Olympics, and that won't come again. And so we can't let this difficult time cause us not to have the opportunity to optimize that position in the world. That's an example. There are some industries that are emerging right now that we as a state ought to be working to nurture and develop, and I'd like to make sure that that happens. One would be our high-tech high schools. I see our high-tech high schools as an important part, as well as our effort and our commitment to double the number of computer science and engineering graduates. Those are all investments that I see would have a very important positive effect, and therefore not continuing them would have a negative impact on our economic recovery.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor, you're talking optimistically about Utah's overall economic health, and looking towards the future. But at the same time you seem to be saying subtextually, "We don't see the light at the end of this tunnel yet." And you may say that the 2 percent projections for job growth could be a little bit optimistic. Are you concerned that we may in fact, be revisiting this process in another couple of months with another set of economic figures that may revisit a downturn?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: I think it's quite possible. And we've got to do this budget in that context, recognizing that we need flexibility, we can't bond our way out of it, for example. We've got to deal with the underlying causes of it and be very careful in the way we deal with it. But I am optimistic that we can solve the problem and get through it, that we're in a very good financial condition. I visited with our bond rating agencies in New York two weeks ago and they gave us the triple A rating, which is, we're one of few states that have that. We're routinely considered to be the best-managed state in America. We got there because of a long tradition of doing the right things at the right moments, and we'll continue to do that.

KERSTEN SWINYARD, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Governor, in light of those requirements you set out, what do you feel the GOP legislators, the leadership plans to balance the budget that they hammered out in special session yesterday?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: As I indicated, I think that the, there are really two major areas that are going to be sort of juxtaposed each other. One is education, and corrections and crime, and the other is, quickly, roads, buildings, and the subsidies on water. I've said for a long time that it makes very little sense to me that we subsidize water at a time when we have a 100-year drought, and we're trying to conserve water, and trying to incent people to conserve water. So we're in the situation where we under-support education, something we have an abundance of, children, and at the same time we subsidize water, something we have a shortage of. That seems backwards to me. So I think a lot of this conversation is going to boil down to, what's most important to us? Is it the quality of our education system and the safety of the community, or is it continuing to build roads, buildings, and subsidize water? And I think those are going to be the basic differences that I have at this point. Now, we're still ten days away from the point that they're going to get serious about the decisions. But as I've looked at the debate, that's the way it seems to be shaping, and I'm going to do all I can to persuade them that we ought to be protecting the quality of our education system, assuring that we have places for people who break the law and that we're not having to close prisons or do things that would otherwise put us at some, in some jeopardy as a community.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor, we're going to turn our attention now to the campus of Utah State University in Logan and a question from Craig Hislop, Craig?

CRAIG HISLOP, UTAH PUBLIC RADIO: Governor, if education were earmarked to take more cuts, would it be your feeling that the public education and higher education take an equal hit in that regard?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well, again, my principle, the budget principle that I'm following is that we ought to be protecting the quality of education, and we have cut education a number of times already. I'm not- - We're still molding this, but I want to protect the integrity of the quality of both of them. And I'm including higher education in that statement.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Let's go right back to Craig.

CRAIG HISLOP, UTAH PUBLIC RADIO: Well, and then one other quick question on the residency idea, the change in the last legislature requiring that out-of-state students, I think it takes probably double the time now to establish residency in the state. What about those students that came in under the old program? Don't we owe them some kind of a moral obligation to grandfather them in on that?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Craig, I have said publicly that I- - Two things. One, I agree with the logic the legislature used to say if we have a scarce resource we ought to be taking care of Utah students first. On the other hand, I've said I also believe there's a need for a transition. I signed the bill saying I'd hoped that we could get the back and find a smoother transition. Now, in the meantime, we have another $175 million worth of deficit. So all of this is going to shake out in the context of priorities. One of the discussions that's being discussed at the legislature right now is to remove from out-of-state students the ability to pay in-state tuition during the summer. Now the theory there is it'll present additional revenue. Well I'm not sure that's the case. If you're an out-of-state student, and the reason you're staying for the summer is so you can get in-state tuition, you're likely to go home and work for the summer to earn money to come back to pay the higher tuition. Now, that may work to the state's disadvantage, because the reason we gave them that incentive in the first place was to help them get through the system faster and to use our facilities during the summer instead of just having them sit idle. So these are the priority judgments that are having to be made, and that one's among them. It's a difficult question, but it'll have to be answered in the next little while. We may not be as able to have as lengthy a transition or as smooth a transition. Frankly, there's a lot of areas right now where the transitions aren't quite as smooth as we'd like them to be because of the lack of funds.

CHRIS VANOCUR, KTVX: Governor, if we could talk a little bit about that court decision out of San Francisco yesterday dealing with the Pledge of Allegiance. One, I'm curious just for your reaction, and two, I'm also curious about if this affects any practices in Utah, either reciting the pledge, any laws. I think it was just the last session the legislature passed something similar, saying certain things should be posted in Utah schools. So again, first your reaction, and then two, does this have any immediate effect on Utahans?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: We have in our society created this sense of politeness that we think keeps us from using the word God, and I- - Heaven save the society that's too polite to talk about God. I- - It will have no impact on us, we're not in that jurisdiction. I feel some sense of confidence that whatever it requires, a Constitutional amendment or just the Supreme Court overriding the court, will happen. The Pledge of Allegiance represents the core of the belief that every school child has about this country. And the idea is absurd that we would have to remove those words. And I don't think it will happen, and I think it's just an expression of a liberal court, frankly, that I think will be overruled by the will of the American people.

CHRIS VANOCUR, KTVX: Do you really see a Constitutional amendment coming out of this possibly?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well, I don't- - I raise that only in the context that if somehow the court were to uphold that, I believe there would be an immediate reaction, as there was on the floor of the Senate and the floor of the House of Representatives in Washington. It would, that would go through Congress and through the states like an Arizona wildfire, and it would be, it would be changed, I think, in very short order. I don't expect that will have to happen, but if it were to have to happen I think the people of this country would see it as an affront.

TOM JORDAN, METRO NETWORKS: Last weekend you were down at the Western Governors Association, and one of the issues was energy transmission. Do you see any problems this summer? We're already into a heat wave, we've got a drought, energy use is way up. Is there anything that you've seen that's going to give us a problem this summer in the way of energy?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well we're in a yellow day. You'll recall as part of our Power Forward campaign we're asking our citizens when it gets to the point that the price of energy gets very high, which is a combination of a lot of heat in Utah, and heat around the region, so there's a lot of draw on the system, we're asking them to not do certain things, like don't run your washing machine during the period between 2:00 o'clock in the afternoon and 8:00 o'clock at night, turn off your computers when you're not using them, turn off lights that you would normally just sort of leave on but not be in the room. And today is one of those days. And we--and tomorrow likely will be too. And those have worked well. We've had, we saved enough power to run the city of Provo last year on each of the yellow days, and so I don't expect we'll have the crisis proportion we did last year because the market has changed, there's been a lot of new production, but in the long run we still have the dilemma of transmission. We've got to find a transmission system that will allow energy to be moved from one part of the western region to the other. It's inadequate right now, and it continues to be a challenge.

JANICE GULLY, KCPW: Governor, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld tuition tax credits. Do you think that will encourage the proponents in Utah to pass that law?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well, I think it'll probably encourage the proponents all over the country to pursue it.

KERSTEN SWINYARD, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Governor what measures are in place now to prevent the kind of wildfire destruction we've seen in Arizona and Colorado?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well, we have in place a fire plan, but it requires, for it to work, the ability to thin the forest and to take all of the undergrowth out of it--something that environmental regulations have prevented. One of the major stories coming out of the Arizona fires is that these are burning hotter and moving faster than any fires in history that those who have fought fires for 50 years have observed. Why? Because the undergrowth and the lack of ability to go in and take diseased, old trees out, has caused a fire hazard. We have an approach that we call urban wildland/urban interfaces. These are the areas immediately surrounding homes. We are going in and trying to thin those back. I announced yesterday a $5 million appropriation that will come to the state of Utah through the U.S. Forest Service and the BLM that will focus on the wildland/urban interfaces. But we are a misplaced cigarette away from the nightmare that they're having in Arizona. There's nothing happening in Arizona right now that couldn't happen in Utah. For that reason, I've asked for fireworks to not be used at all on state lands, the same is true of federal lands. I've asked for municipal entities, towns and counties and cities, to enforce their ordinances. I've asked the highway patrol to enforce the importation laws that we have against illegal fireworks, and I'm calling upon the citizens of our state to supervise very closely their festivities on the 4th of July and the 24th of July. Fireworks that are illegal ought not to be used. Even fireworks that are legal, in the wrong area can cause a devastating fire that could literally cost people their homes and be another blow to our economy. So it's not- - This is not a trivial matter. It's a very serious matter, and one that I hope that the people of our state will, in the way that they're so uniquely capable of doing, will pull together to not have us in a situation that would be devastating.

REBECCA WALSH, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Governor, how do you feel the closed primary went?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: I was against the closed primary from the beginning, and I suggested at the time I didn't think it would go longer than one year. I've heard story after story from people at polling places of individuals coming prepared to vote, finding out they had to make a declaration, and simply turning around and walking. I overheard a conversation between a father and his 18-year-old son saying, "Are you going to vote?" And the son said, "I don't think I will, you have to declare a party and I don't know that I'm prepared to do that yet." Now, I think that's the kind of thing that causes the closed primary to be a bad idea, and I think it did suppress substantially the voter turnout, and it's too bad, and I hope that the party will reconsider their action.

KERSTEN SWINYARD, ASSOCIATED PRESS: What fallout do you expect from this closed primary?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Just a lot of people are irritated about it, just like you'd project that they would be, and I don't think it's going to change the course of history but I think it will, in fact, be viewed by the party as a bad idea. I hope it is viewed that way, because I basically think it is a bad idea.

TOM JORDAN, METRO NETWORKS: A couple of days ago the board of the Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce voted unanimously to oppose nuclear storage at Yucca Mountain, reflecting what seems to be very strong public opinion. Why has there been a reluctance on the part of the state leadership to dive into this movement? The chamber's line was the same one that almost everybody else has been watching. Sooner or later that fills up, within ten years, and we get to be the next target. Why isn't there a reluctance to just really solidly oppose Yucca Mountain?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: We are working with focus on one objective, and that is preventing nuclear waste from being stored at Skull Valley with the PFS proposal with the Goshute Indians. There are discussions going on between myself and various heads of departments on an ongoing basis. We're working strategies that are environmental, that are legal, that are contractual, that are political, and each one of those. And there will still be a lot of time in this debate, and I've just felt it not in our interest as a state to take a policy position on that at this time.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor you speak of the Skull Valley controversy going on. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has concluded field hearings. This almost brings up, at least a substantial portion of that process, to a close. On balance, how satisfied are you with the way the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approached this licensing of the Skull Valley proposal?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: I thought they went through the process, but I have very little confidence that their judgment was not predetermined. They will likely license it. They have jumped through the hoops necessary to make that call, but I still have optimism that nuclear waste will not be stored at Skull Valley. There's, I think, many reasons for that to be. We've asked the Department of Interior to take another look at the lease, as to whether or not the three days' analysis that it was given and the approval it was granted by a middle-level administrator was really adequate. We're working very, in a very focused way to assure that there's not any way to get nuclear waste into that facility. We've passed laws as a state that will require very high standards of performance if they were to be, and we're also engaged in a legal challenge as to whether or not the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has the right to license them. So there are a number of things out there that are still playing out. I still feel optimistic that we're going to avoid it, and that's the reason we've stayed so focused on this issue and not allowed ourselves to be drawn into a lot of other debates.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Well, that takes us right to the last minute of our program. And we've focused a lot on negative consequences, everything from wildfires to budget crises and everything in between. The 4th of July is just around the corner, it's a time when we're going to renew ourselves in a commitment to the American experience. What gives you the right to be optimistic as we near this celebration of our national experience? What holds Governor Mike Leavitt to the road and believes in the future?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: It's an American instinct to be optimistic, and it has served us for nearly two and a quarter centuries. And there's, if you were to look around the world, say "Where would I like to live?" I think people would choose the United States. People from all over the world work hard to get here, because we are the land of the free and the home of the brave. Now, we're not perfect but it is our home, and we, we're committed to it. The sense of liberty that's here that we celebrate on July the 4th is what causes us to be optimistic and it's what gives us every reason to be optimistic. The human condition that exists in the United States of liberty and freedom is what makes us all optimistic.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor, thank you for your time today, and thank you for joining us for this edition of the Governor's Monthly News Conference on KUED. A reminder that a transcript of this and every news conference is available online courtesy of the Utah Education network at www.uen.org. Thanks for joining us, good night.

Return to home page