August 28, 2008

...if you take [Utah's] 300,000 uninsured, if you disaggregate those numbers, about half probably qualify for existing programs and don’t know about it. So you’ve got CHIP that now has open enrollment..." -Governor Huntsman

KEN VERDOIA, KUED-7: Governor, thanks for joining us. We have a number of state issues to get to, but it is the political season, and your early support for John McCain, Senator John McCain's presidential candidacy has put you in a very close relationship, it would appear, with the presidential candidate of your party, and one of the much discussed decisions being made right now is who might run with him as a vice presidential running mate. Have you received any unique insights on to the deliberative process and what are the values that Senator McCain is looking for in a running mate?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: No unique insights. All you can tell you is that for John McCain it's going to be a very personal decision, and it's one that he is making pretty much alone, from all I can tell, and we talk periodically, I have nothing that you all wouldn't have. So this is a very personal decision for him, and I think it's one where chemistry really will matter in the end. The ability to get along with whom ever the vice president is, and I think he's been very outspoken in saying that, you know, the primary qualification, as you would imagine, is the ability to assume the top position, heaven forbid, should anything happen to John McCain if he's elected president. And beyond that, it's commonality of world view, and experience. And we'll see how that plays out over the next couple of days, because that person is supposed to get a call in the next many hours, and campaigning will then ensue over the weekend into the convention and into the twin cities next week.

JEFF ROBINSON, KCPW: Governor, you'll be speaking at the Republican national convention next week. What do you plan to talk about, and how do you plan to outdo Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, who, in my opinion, stole the show right out from under Hillary Clinton on Tuesday?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: If you have any ideas, let me know. You know I just finished drafting some remarks. We've spent the last three days in northern Utah doing town meetings, just going from county to county, town to town with local elected officials and in spare time I've been scribbling away. Although that's hard to do when you're riding a motorcycle, catching bugs in your teeth, at 70 miles an hour, moving into Kamas. But we'll probably talk a little bit about reform, because reform is the theme for that evening, and a little bit about John McCain, the man, and the person who I've come to know and understand, and respect over the last many years. As for Brian Schweitzer, who's a great friend, nobody outdoes Brian Schweitzer, and I wouldn't even attempt that challenge. He is my vice chair with western governors, and I have absolutely, thoroughly enjoyed my association with Brian from the very beginning. We were elected together, and interestingly enough, we have a common world view on many issues, including energy that we're working together on as we draft some proposals that we hope in the next few weeks we will finalize and turn over to the next president of the United States on an energy policy. So Brian is terrific, he's a good Governor, he's a terrific public speaker, and he dazzles crowds. And I'm probably not in his league.

GLEN WARCHOL, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Governor, Schweitzer and the Governor of California both share many things with you, and you've cooperated with them. Is there a pattern, here? Those are both Democrats.

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Well, it would be a very irregular pattern emerging, if you were a political scientist. It's interesting to note that, you know, Brian Schweitzer is, you know, strong on second amendment rights, he is pro life, he has embarked on tax reform, tax cuts, strong economic development, so you look at where governors are, and I would say the same thing about, you know, Bill Richardson, another good friend. You know, done a lot of things that are very, very common in nature, and I think it would suggest that, in order to manage these hot economies of the west through good and bad, that there are certain formulas that work, and certain that don't work. And whether Republican or Democrat, yeah, there are going to be some differences around the edges, but by and large I think if you were a political scientist, and I'm only an amateur, I would be looking at these hybrid models that are being created in the intermountain west, because I think they're very instructive in terms of where both parties are going in terms of the future, and I think interesting case studies in state management. Because you have the Democratic party co opting certain themes from traditional Republicanism, and you have certain Republicans who may be co opting certain traditionally Democratic themes. Consequently you've got some hybrid models that seem to be working in the west. Time will tell, but I think they're relatively unprecedented from a political science standpoint.

ROD DECKER, KUTV-2:: Energy, you'll be proper You've worked on and you'll be proposing a national energy policy, as with the Governors.

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Right.

ROD DECKER, KUTV-2: The partisan divisions so far in congress has been Republicans drill, drill, drill, plus others, plus other things, and the Democrats just other things. Does your energy policy include drill, drill, drill? Does it include development of Utah oil shale?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: We're going to know over time. We don't have a final draft, but I think there would be some consensus among most all of the Governors that options need to be on the table, and that means probably doing that which would enhance domestic output and production. And if you want to call that drilling, then someone call it drilling.

ROD DECKER, KUTV-2: Are you for Utah oil shale? Do you believe we should give that a good run?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: I think we ought to give it a good run. And I say that, knowing that new technologies are emerging, that use less water, are less invasive to the land, and deal realistically with the carbon footprint. Not the old technologies that we had 20, 30 years ago. We're going to know over the next few weeks, I think, if these companies have started to crack the code in converting shale into oil, and I'm going to look at a lot of features that are part of that.

ROD DECKER, KUTV-2: You have supported for Utah technology to put coal gases in the ground.

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Right.

ROD DECKER, KUTV-2:: I take it that that might solve the problem. But before then, are you going to suggest that we should build some more coal plants, or that she wouldn't build some more coal plants? Both in Utah and the United States. I take it the problems are the same.

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Coal plants are going to be addressed based upon carbon capture and storage technology. Not based upon the same old pattern and the same old technology. That's unacceptable. As coal is used, as it will be used, it's a big part of our portfolio, the technologies like you see in Brian McPherson's lab at the University of Utah, who is working on a $67 million department of energy research grant, which is at the forefront, our state, in carbon capture and storage, and they're actually trying it out. This is commercially viable over the next 5 7 years, from what I've been told, and so you know, whether it's coal or whether it's a natural gas fired plant, these are the kinds of technologies, not only here but that will have applicability even more importantly in places like China where you have coal plants going up every week.

ROD DECKER, KUTV-2: Governor, you've been talking about the cooperation and innovation that's going on among western Governors. I suppose you would include the western climate initiative in that. But on the other hand, you have a candidate, the Republican candidate in Utah's third congressional district who says global warming is a farce. Will this innovation that you're talking about, and cooperation, alienate you from the most conservative wing of Utah's Republican party, as you run for re-election?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: It's a big tent party, what can I say? You have our soon to be official nominee, John McCain, who I think sees this issue as I do, that climate change is something that real and one that we must take into account as we develop and implement policies going forward, particularly in the energy sector. So it's a big tent party, I have to do what I think is right for the state. In some cases it's going to make people a little bit angry.

I'm not much of a politician at the end of the day, and I'm not going to survive, you know, beyond one more time. I hope I'm re elected. I'm a term limits guy, and my job, while I'm here, however temporary that might be, is to get the job done for the people of this state. That's not looking at a party orthodoxy first, but rather what's right for people first, putting state before party. I've always operated that way, and I always will.

ROD DECKER, KUTV-2:: Do you need orthodox faction behind you, or can you get yourself re-elected without them and ignore them?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: I hope we can pull off re-election, just doing things as we have. I've been around the state, knocked on a lot of doors, met with a lot of groups the last many days in rural settings and in urban settings, and we're getting good feedback.

ROD DECKER, KUTV-2: For a guy who's an amateur political scientist and not much of a politician, you were right about McCain early, you stuck with him through the hard times, and now the first, the first hurdle is, the first hurdle is jumped already. However, there's another. Would you handicap, given your record as a prophet, would you handicap What's going to happen between now and November? What do you see?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: It's going to be a very close race, and it could very well be determined by the electoral college, as opposed to the popular vote. And I think the states that really will matter are those that you're going to see McCain in over the next 2-to-3 days. Ohio will be critically important, Pennsylvania will be critically important, Michigan will be critically important. Florida, I think, in New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, John McCain being a Westerner I think he's going to do better than expected in these states. I'm not sure California's going to be in play but who knows? This could be a very surprising year.

ROD DECKER, KUTV-2: You say you're going to talk about reform. Can you tell us sort of, at the convention. Can you tell us sort of what you mean? Reform of what? How?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Will, reform of politics as usual, and that means stressing ethics, it means stressing campaign finance reform, which I think is an important thing to be done, and John McCain has done his level headed best although he's taken a lot of flack for it, and it's still something I'd like to see done in this state. And you'll hear more about that maybe in the weeks to come. Things like, you know, tax reform. Making us more competitive that we have embarked upon and succeeded on here in this state. Education reform, you know, looking at taking 25 million bucks as we're doing now, and incentivizing teachers, which is a great thing to be doing. Looking at a 4/10 work week for example, which we're the first out of the box, and you know now the U.S. government is even looking at that as a possible model, to say nothing of the entire country of Germany.

ROD DECKER, KUTV-2: Sounds as if you're going to talk about Utah. What are you going to say America needs to do to reform? Given that you're speaking at the national convention.

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Well, it's going to be less about Utah, and more about the nation. And you're looking at traditional Republicanism. I mean reform sometimes means returning to your roots, remembering where you came from. You know, and let's remember that, you know, John Fremont, who traversed this area a lot in the election of 1856 was the Republican nominee. First Republican nominee in history. He lost. He lost to James Buchanan.

Lincoln then, four years later, became really the Republican party's first nominee. He stood for a principal called equality. Which I think is pretty darn important. That ought to be at the heart and soul of everything we do.

Theodore Roosevelt came along in 1901, you know, upon the death of William McKinley when he was vice president, Roosevelt assumed the presidency, and had a good run until the bull moose party was created in 1912. He lost the convention to William Howard Taft, and of course Woodrow Wilson went on to win that election. But what did he stand for? He stood for respect for the land. The environment that we all find ourselves, and which I would argue is among the most important legacies that we're handing down to the next generation. Aside from the way in which we interact with one another, the respect we show for one another as human beings, regardless of background or place of origin, these are core tenets of Republicanism that sometimes get lost.

And you have to look back to Lincoln, you have to look back to Theodore Roosevelt sometimes to get your bearings straight on where this party got its origin, and what might be its most important messages going forward. And I call that reform in a sense.

TOM JORDAN, METRO NETWORKS: You see, I was just thinking of this, issue of going back to Theodore Roosevelt, and certainly President Nixon were the two who probably got more environmentally successful legislation than anybody else that's ever been in the presidency. Much of the current environmental legislation came out of the Nixon years. Would you like to see the party reclaim that high ground environmentally, which is certainly an episode open to the Democrats, but in their convention speeches so far I've heard very little about it.

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: This is not an R or B, it isn't a blue issue. It really isn't. I mean look at what Roosevelt did in his run early last century, and I was in the Uintahs yesterday standing at mirror lake, you know, at the head waters for three of our most important rivers that give us sustenance, recommended by the forest service that all of this was created by the vision of Theodore Roosevelt, Richard Nixon in 1971 created the EPA under Bill Ruckelshaus, who later went on to run it four terms later. Again, we have a history of dealing with this more or less as a bipartisan issue, and that's exactly what we're trying to prove through the western governors, that let's not play politics with something as important as energy policy. It's got to be fixed based upon three basic principles.

One, affordability, and that's why I like the natural gas option so much, and I think more and more we ought to be migrating on the transportation side to natural gas, and I think you'll be reading a very interesting article in a nationwide newspaper about how Utah is leading the revolution toward natural gas for transportation.

Two is independence after affordability. You know, why do we have 700 billion dollars being sucked out of our country to dictators, despots, and tyrants? Every year. And over the next ten years purportedly, you know, ten trillion dollars, the largest transfer of wealth in the history of human kind to Hugo Chavez, to Iraq, funding people like Putin and Medvedev, funding, you know, mischief, you know, across the Russian Georgian border, places like Apkasia and South Ossetia. I mean all being funded by oil money. You know, why don't we get smart about our own resources? We can do it responsibly, we can do it with an eye toward the environment, and it isn't a bipartisan issue.

And the third really is doing it in a sustainable way. And that is with emissions being looked at and dealt with realistically, recognizing that climate change is something that we all have to be paying attention to and the impact that it has, particularly on our weather patterns, you want to talk about snowfall, temperature increases over the last century of 2 5 degrees? We are dead center in the west, in terms of the impact of climate change, and you look at our ski industry, you look at those rivers whose head waters I stood at just yesterday, how they are then impacted, and you know, doubling in population by 2040, 2050, water seriously becoming an issue by then?

These are all interconnected and they kind of start with the proper vision for energy policy, and that's, I think, why it can't be a partisan issue, but rather has to be bipartisan.

ROD DECKER, KUTV-2: Later today you're going to meet with Representative Clark and Senator Killpack, or you're scheduled to do it, and one assumes that's about health care, and one assumes that they've been thinking about it, and it's now time to actually get something together to do with the legislature. First, do you plan to have a major health care initiative for the next legislature? And second, can you give us a peek as to what the three of you are going to suggest?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Well, I’m going to get an update from Representative Clark on the progress that they are making as part of their working group, we’re going to see if the insurance industry, which has thwarted efforts to date is going to be a little more wiling to help as we kind of embark upon the final stretch toward the legislative session. What it’s going to mean in terms of- -

There are really two things, here, that are critically important. One is transparency. That is, giving consumers the power to understand what costs are in the health care melieu. When is the last time you went in to the doctor or the hospital, you actually understood costs associated with procedures? You never get that. That’s a critically important part of our understaking. We’ve already passed legislation to get us there, and it’s building on this very good start, along with the patient data exchange. We’re the first, really, in the country to be doing that.

And second is, in terms of taking costs out of the system, is taking the 300,000 uninsured, getting them covered. That’s how you take costs out of the system, along with greater transparency for consumers. So you do that by having more affordable health care policies, insurance policies that the industry has been reluctant to fashion and build for people. And that’s been a holdup, and it’s got to cease being a holdup, and we’re going to have some ideas during the home stretch that we’ll be working, for example. And if you take the 300,000 uninsured, if you disaggregate those numbers, about half probably qualify for existing programs and don’t know about it.

So you’ve got CHIP that now has open enrollment, which is a great thing, you probably have 35 to 40,000 of 70,000 who ought to qualify. We’ve got to reach into the communities through religious leaders, through community activists, through neighborhood organizers, and find people who qualify for existing programs. We’re going to work with public ed in terms of when kids are coming back to school, identifying those who, for whatever reason, are not signed up on a program. Working with state officials to get them signed up. That’ll take a big number out of that 150,000.

The idea that you’d also target incoming classes at our state colleges and universities to get all of our students signed up to a program as well is something that we’re looking at, and I’ve met with insurance companies about offering something that is affordable. We just don’t have anything that’s affordable right now. And you can’t do it unless you’ve got something that’s affordable for kids. You don’t want to add to the burden they’re already carrying at the higher ed level. And I’m getting, you know, nods like we can work together, we can make it happen, but I haven’t seen it yet and I hope to see it soon, an affordable policy for higher ed- - You know, even if it’s just catastrophic coverage that we’re trying to cover. Something that helps to mitigate overall costs for health.

LISA RILEY ROCHE, DESERET NEWS: Governor, let’s go back to the vice presidential pick that Senator McCain is expected to make shortly. Is there a candidate that could be more beneficial to Utah, or perhaps more sympathetic to some of the issues that you’ve raised, things that Utah are doing that might benefit the country as a whole—your 4-10 work week, for example? I know you’ve been mentioned as a possible vice presidential pick, and of course Mitt Romney, who led the Olympics here, and who’s well aware that the state, through his Mormon faith, as well as his ties, including a home in Deer Valley. Is there a candidate that could help spread some of these Utah ideas maybe better than another?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Well, to lump me in with that august group, Lisa—thank you very much—is to say that, you know, anyone with a pulse is kind of being talked about, and that’s kind of the way these things go, they become free-for-alls. Which my kids think and my dogs in particular, think is really pretty humerous. The good news- -

LISA RILEY ROCHE, DESERET NEWS: Is that a vote for you, then?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Yeah, most definitely. The good news is that John McCain understands our state, he’s been here many times, sometimes not with large crowds, but he’s been here. Sometimes hunkered down in the Governor’s Mansion doing his thing, you know, a couple of years ago. He understands our issues, and he’s on our same page as it relates to energy reform. And he’s on our same page in terms of what needs to be done to deal with the growth issues that the entire west is facing. So regardless of who the vice presidential pick is, we’re going to do okay as a state, because we’ve got a friend in John McCain. And he understands our state, and he’ll answer our calls for help, and he’s a westerner at heart, and I think that’s a huge advantage for a state like Utah.

DAN BAMMES, KUER: Governor, we are a month, now, into the 4-day work week for state government employees. I imagine that you hear from state employees, either by email, you talk to them directly when you visit state facilities, what are they telling you about the impact of the 4-day week on their lives?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: I’ve been encouraged by the attitude, by and large, of state employees wanting to make it work. See, you’ve got probably 80 percent who really like the idea, and 20 percent who have a challenge in some way, shape, or form. And it’s the 20 percent I really want to focus on, and I’ve told our cabinet to work with those who have day care issues, who public transportation issues, who have continuing education issues, and be flexible. And I think we’re doing that to the best of our ability. And I think we’re going to know by the end of the year if we’ve been able to address all of those concerns, and I think we’ll get there, I really do.

And then you hear- - You know, I got an email message from a restaurant owner in the south end of the Salt Lake valley just a couple of days ago saying thank you, thank you, thank you for the 4/10 work week. I’m getting new business, people are coming in like never before to my restaurant, I never would have imagined, it’s saving my business. And you know, little things like that, that you never imagined would have been part of this, but as you’ve got people with a flexible Friday, you never know how they’re going to reinvest in our economy and patronize restaurants, like I gave an example of.

So what is key for us is to keep an eye on those who are having challenges, and those who are dealing with kids getting back to school, single parents, for example, those are the ones that I’m interested in, and I want to make sure that we find solutions to whatever challenges they might face.

But by and large the feedback is pretty good, and I’m hearing a lot from others, including governors, who want to do the same thing, but only after November. You know, they don’t want to do it pre-November, and companies like Chrysler Corporation are looking at doing it, and the federal government has even put in a request through Congress to look at the efficacy and the merits of doing such a program. So you never know. You know, one thing is for sure, we’re at the cutting edge, we’re at the vanguard of this movement, and therefore you’re first to encounter the challenges, as opposed to being the very back. And I think that’s good for our state. I think we ought to be recognized as being innovative and creative.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED-7: Governor, we are in our last 90 seconds in our alloted time today. And as I met with you before we went on the air, I asked you what issues were on your mind. And the issue that came first out of you was an interesting one. You said, “Ken, the loss of life.” Tell me why that is on your mind.

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Well, we’ve got some families and neighbors and relatives in Cedar City and in Hurricaine, in particular, who are grieving this week because of the tragic airplane crash out of Moab. We lost ten lives, nine of whom lived in Cedar City, one in Hurricaine. And this is a devastating thing. I’ve talked to Jerry Sherratt, the great mayor down there, been on a radio program, I’ll be down there tonight to speak at the memorial service. It’s really hard to imagine how this kind of thing, when you’ve got so many in a relatively small town, professionals, health care providers, working to make lives better in terms of cancer screening in the Moab area. You know, out making lives better. The just perish like this, it leaves a huge void—in families, in neighborhoods, and in towns. And that’s just been playing through my mind a lot the last few days, and I know it has a whole lot of other people in this state. We had another tragic crash in Guatemala and lost some humanitarian workers, three of them, one of whom was rescued, gladly. But these things happen, and there’s no rhyme or reason for it, and you know, as governor, every time that happens I feel it, here, right in my gut. And you want to reach out as quickly as you can to these communities. And we’ll do our best tonight to see if we can’t share a message of hope and strength.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED-7: And that completes our time today. Thank you for joining us.

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