June 26, 2008

"...we've come up with a conclusion that a four [day] 10 [hour] work week will be a very good thing for this state." -Governor Huntsman

KEN VERDOIA, KUED-7: Thanks for joining us. At the outset, let me note that we are meeting to tape this edition of the Governor's Monthly News Conference in the studios of KUED on Thursday, June 26th, in the morning. The time stamp is worthwhile, since Governor Jon Huntsman has asked to use the start of this news conference to make an announcement relating to state policy. Governor, with no further ado, your announcement.

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Thank you, Ken. And this is, in fact, an important forum here, and we wanted to take advantage of your hospitality and your graciousness to roll out an important change in state government policy. As leaders in state government, we're always trying to do things a little bit better to meet the needs of a state that is in flux, to look at our work force needs, to look at our environmental needs, to look at basic customer service needs, and with respect to how we schedule our work force as a state, and we have 22, 23,000 great state employees. And we have tossed around the idea lately of how to achieve a few important goals for this state that I think are going to be extremely important longer term.

So this is kind of where the environment, and issues surrounding the environment, trying to manage a footprint that our state is responsible for, with energy efficiency, realizing that we have a very aggressive and ambitious energy efficiency goal, 20 percent by 2015 as a state. We have real needs in terms of servicing and expanding customer base, when you look at the many services that the state provides. And then you look at, you know, the well being of our work force in the state, and how to remain a viable employer, where people today have a lot of different options to choose from in terms of where they're going to want to pursue their professional endeavors. We have therefore decided that it's in the interest of our state to go to a four 10 work week.Four days, 10 hours.

This is something that has been done at a local government level, there are some examples here in our own state, and examples in other states, but has never been done at a state, at the state wide level. So we would be the first state actually rolling this out. So again, it's in the spirit of how to better serve many of our needs as a state.

We've looked at the issue of our work force needs, we've looked at how to manage our facilities, how to manage our carbon footprint as a state, how to improve customer service. And as we have analyzed and crunched numbers in all of these particular areas, we've come up with a conclusion that a four 10 work week will be a very good thing for this state.

So what we are planning to do is to take the month of July, and to allow all of our departments and agencies who will be part of this. And again, we're looking at all administrative buildings, you know, minus troopers and minus corrections, minus transportation, that will continue, the human services obviously they'll have needs that have to be met on a 24/7 basis.

But in a world like we have today that provides 800 plus online services to its population, that I think are being taken advantage of more and more with each passing year, with hundreds of administrative buildings around the state, where if you were able to close them down for three days as opposed to two, the energy efficiencies are significant that we can achieve.

If you consider a world in which our great employees, when they have to commute on that fifth day, would have the option, then, on that fifth day, you know, to do whatever they wanted to do, and the gas savings that would accrue to them, I think, would be a very, very important quality of life determinant for our state employees.

And we consider, you know, the 7:00 to 6:00 work day schedule, Monday through Thursday, that will allow people to access basic services earlier if they want, or later if they want, than would typically be the case, I think is a better way of servicing our customers. So when you look at the totality of the needs, here, this is a good policy moving forward.

The month of July will be used to make sure that we're all prepared to launch, that we've looked at individual schedules, that we've considered child care services, that we've considered public transportation schedules, we've contemplated all of the issues that would make or break this longer term. And then allow ourselves to formally launch in early August.I think the 3rd or the 4th would be that Monday in August, and that would then make it official.

So July we're going to be working very closely with our departments and agencies and making sure that we anticipate and complicate all of the issues or challenges that would be associated with doing this right. Because when we launch this in August we want be to make sure that we do so with clarity, and we do so with consistency, and we do so with a sense of uniformity.People doing it together.

So that it really does have an impact in all of the areas in which we think it will have an important impact. So to discuss this for a moment beyond what I've already given you, I have two of our experts in state government, Kim Hood, who is our director of administrative services, I'm going to turn a little bit of time over to Kim to maybe run you through some of the metrics that we have looked at from an energy efficiency standpoint, from an environment standpoint, to be followed by Jeff Herring, who's our outstanding HR director, and maybe Jeff, if you would maybe speak to the whole issue of customer service and maybe morale within the work place would probably be salient in this case. So Ken, if it's all right, we'll turn it over to Kim to take it from here.

KIMBERLY HOOD, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UTAH DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES: Thank you. Well today is a great day as far as energy efficiency is concerned, and our environment. So we have roughly 3,000 buildings in the state, 60 percent of those are higher education buildings.But we estimate, out of those 1200, 1500 or so that the state actually manages as state government, we'll be able to close around 1,000 buildings. Closing those thousand buildings on Fridays moves us farther toward our energy efficiency goal.

We estimate that it can help save somewhere around 20 percent of the costs that we are having right now in energy prices and energy usage. We did a sampling of six agencies that are willing to close and are able to close, they'll function Monday through Thursday, close on Friday. The six agencies are DEQ, buildings 1 and 2, human services, agriculture, department of natural resources, and our office building here on capitol hill.

And just using that as a sample to be able to project what the energy savings would be, we found that by closing down those buildings on Friday it's a substantial savings.Our buildings operate all hours of the day. This And night. Normally we bring them up about 5:00 in the morning, close them down around 6:00 p.m.

We feel like we can bring those buildings up at 6:00 a.m., close them down at 6:00 p.m., with just eight hours, then, or 12 hours of savings on Fridays, the estimated cost savings just to the six buildings, is around $123,000.

Taking that, then, and looking at what we can do state wide, upwards of 1,000 buildings, it will be substantial savings. It also has great impact on our environment. We feel like we can reduce the CO2, or the ozone, by around over 3,000 metric tons, as well as have an impact on our air pollution.

JEFF HERRING, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UTAH DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES: Well thank you. From a human resource perspective, it's an exciting day for the state, as well. As we took a look at this, one of our forefronts of what we try and do as state and public employees is provide excellent customer service.

I always say that our public employees are the ones that provide the safety, security, welfare of the state, and so we've got to ensure that not only those basic needs as essential services, as the Governor indicated, are maintained, but the customer service for those people, the citizens that are looking for government services are maintained, if not increased by this.

And that's what we're really hoping to do, is by extending the hours of operation Monday through Thursday to an hour additionally in the morning and an hour additionally in the evening, to our citizens, that we'll be able to provide easier access for the citizens of our state to come and get the government services they need, whether that be work force services, not having to take a day off of their job as they're looking for a job, to come and meet with their employment counselors. Now they can work their full work day and come in.

So the access of not having our citizens take time off of their daily lives to come and get government services is a big aspect of this. We'll be putting in place with Kim on the energies, Rick Sprout, who's our environmental engineer, our director for the environment, and for ourselves as customer service and employees, taking a look at metrics, how do we measure this?

This is going to be a one year pilot program that we take a look at, we'll make sure that it's having the results that we have, that we expect it to have, and then we can assess as that goes.But that's some of the aspects of our customer service.

But as far as employees, this is a national trend, and I'm excited that we can be a national leader on a state wide basis to take a look at this. Certainly we understand that we're going to have to be flexible, but have accountability with that flexibility as we adjust the work force, especially work force, the magnitude of the state's work force, to adjust their schedules to accommodate, as the Governor said, with transportation or child care needs.

But the study after study, as you take a look at this, indicates that once the schedules can be accommodated, that the benefits for employee morale, for recruitment and retention in a work force is increased significantly by this type of move.

So again, we're excited for it, I'm excited to be part of it, and we'll make sure that we get the month of July taken care of and get everything rolled out properly.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED-7: Governor Huntsman, notable in their absence are state judiciary and legislative branches, which are not covered by an executive order, and also we've been talking around higher and public education, which are the 5,000 pound gorillas in this dent that are seemingly not being involved in this initiative either?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: You have to start somewhere, and we are responsible for that which has just been rolled out. And so you can either sort of maintain the status quo or you can move forward with an idea that you think is compelling, that chances are others are going look to and say, there's something there that perhaps suits our interests, as well.

Now, we'll work with Patty Harrington and the board, we meet with them regularly, and see if there's anything here that they might have an interest in.But we want to make sure that, you know, the board and Patty are sort of leading the way, here, and we can always look to Rich County as an example of what has gone on.

Now, there may be greater relevance here for the rural districts than for the urban districts, which make a whole lot more use of their facilities for purposes other than just classroom time. And we all understand that. And the urban needs are a little different than the rural needs.

But Rich County has gone for two years now to a four day week. The academic schedule, of course, is the focus of Monday Thursday, and then you've got extracurricular activities on Friday, so those bus trips to San Juan County, or wherever it might be, that take a lot of time and are very, very expensive, as opposed to doing them sort of randomly throughout the week, there's a day set aside for those journeys, and they may be tied into other aspects of education or competition that the school or the district might be interested in.

So as we kind of roll this out, and as people digest it a little bit, there may be others that you mentioned, the judiciary, and the legislature, it's hard to know where they will go, but I think this is going to start a discussion in this state, and even perhaps with the private sector, that might create change in other unanticipated areas.

ROD DECKER, KUTV-2: If I understand what you said, it's this will not apply to schools and colleges, but you are working with schools and colleges and seeing if you can't get them eventually to go along.

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: You always cut right to the chase.

ROD DECKER, KUTV-2: Thank you.

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Always cut right to the chase. And that is exactly right. We can only start with that which we have immediate control over, and then the discussions are going to move outward. And I think, Rod, that public ed will take a look at this and maybe see if there are some things they can do. Again, in the rural areas there may be a more compelling argument to be made than in the urban districts. And higher ed, there are a lot of buildings in the higher ed universe, and they've got schedules, of course, that they have to maintain, I think it would be very difficult to kind of reprogram, but I'm sure there's going to be some discussion at the higher ed level about how they can do a better job with respect to the buildings they manage, particularly those that are exclusively administrative buildings. And that's kind of where our focus is here.

ROD DECKER, KUTV-2: Do you plan to lead other than by example in the private sector? Or are you going to talk to my boss and say, "You don't really need him on Fridays"? (Laughter)

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: You're so indispensable, 24/7, I'm not sure that any manager would ever get around to that conclusion. The Chamber of Commerce has already taken an interest in this, and I think that they're probably going to look closely at what we're doing and may, through their various venues, make recommendations to businesses about how better to schedule their weeks.

But the private sector will do what suits their interests, and you know, far be it for state government to come in and say, you know, you've got to abide by a certain schedule.But I think what is relevant, here, is we're all kind of after the young, emerging, you know, talent. And you've gone from the Gen Xers to what, you know, what is out there today.Okay, whatever the term is. And they have a lot of options out there. And I think quality of life for many of the young folks who are looking at entering the work force is a very important call.

And when you can get work done and better serve the state and better serve our customer base and make an impact on the environment, and with respect to energy efficiency plans, and then have a three day weekend, where you can enjoy the greatest state in America, I think that, from a work force attraction standpoint and our ability to kind of bring on the best and the brightest of the young generation, I think is going to be to our advantage. Because we're out there competing for the same talent at the end of the day.

LISA RILEY ROCHE, DESERET NEWS: Governor, talk about the costs of this. Obviously salaries aren't going to change, you're just changing the work week. But it seems like there's a lot of costs associated with this.You've got to educate your employees, you've got to educate the public so they're not showing up on a Friday looking for government services, so they know those extra hours are going to be available. How much money are you allocating toward whatever kind of program you think is needed to get that message out there?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Longer term there will be significant cost savings. I don't anticipate this being a user of funds in the early ramp up stages. We've already worked with our cabinet and all of the important stakeholders, and that's why this month of July is going to be very, very important, and there'll be a lot of meetings, you know, a lot of, you know, kind of brown bag around the lunch table discussions about, you know, individual cases.

You know, scheduling peculiarities, transportation needs, child care, et cetera, et cetera. And I think most of that is going to be, will be part of the internal discussion, and then we'll continue to take word out to the public, which isn't really a cost item, as much as it is just aggressively reminding the public, whether it's on the Internet or via public airwaves, what the schedule will consist of.

And I think by August we're going to be prepared to do that. That presupposes in July we're able to do all the work internally that needs to be done, and solve all of, you know, the problems or questions that people have, and of course there will be many, but I think we're going to be ready to launch in early August, and I think there will be a fairly clear and crisp understanding where we're going and why.

LISA RILEY ROCHE, DESERET NEWS: So no up front costs at all?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Well, I'm not willing to say no up front cost, but I'm sure that each department and agency will do what they need to do, you know, on a minimalist basis to make sure that- Suffice it to say, Lisa, we're not appropriating anything extraordinary for this undertaking. But rather, anticipating some rather extraordinary savings on the far end.

RICHARD PIATT, KSL-5: Are you saying, Governor, that this is not optional, that employees won't have a choice to maybe pick Wednesday off? They'll have to take Friday off?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Let me say that flexibility will be critically important during the month of July as we kind of try to, you know, ponder all of the variables, here. And there are going to be maybe 10 percent of our work force population that will have certain needs that we're just not thinking about today. And being flexible and working to meet those needs in terms of scheduling around whatever those needs might be is something I'm going to be very interested in doing.

So it isn't going to be a one size fits all for everybody, but it will be for 90 percent of the employees, because I think most are going to look at it and say, "I can accommodate that," and longer term it's good for some of these very important issues in our state, and good for the employees themselves.

But there will be probably 10 percent, I'm guessing, who will have needs that we just can't anticipate right now. We're just going to have to trouble shoot it.

RICHARD PIATT, KSL-5: I'm wondering, in the larger sense, you know, you're talking to a group of people whose industry is also facing layoffs, where the demand is increasingly- -

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: I read something about.

RICHARD PIATT, KSL-5: - -more, better, faster. If there's a larger picture, here, where you as a business person, which you have experience in, do you get a sense that this is something that, in a way, has to be done? That efficiencies have to be implemented somehow? You're casting this as sort of a nice thing to do, but in- - Is the reality also that the state is facing where something needs to be done to be more efficient?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: I'm saying that, you know, you have a choice in situations like this, as a manager. You can either manage the status quo, which is inefficient, or you can move toward a new model which is more efficient, and addresses some of our more compelling needs with environmental concerns, with energy efficiency concerns, with customer service, and with work place morale.

All four of those areas are going to be improved, and so as kind of the chief executive, you kind of do the analysis, and you look at four critically important areas, and they're all important to me. But tomorrow's work force, and having the best and the brightest of, you know, the young folks coming up who might want to consider, you know, becoming a state employee, who have thought about it before but maybe think that, you know, the quality of life just isn't what they'd like it to be, might reconsider.

And if we get a higher cut of employee going forward, I think that's much to the interest of the state longer term, and I think Jeff Herring would agree with that point.

But you know, you can kind of do the same old thing, Richard, or you can kind of identify some areas that we all feel strongly about improving, and if one decision sort of longitudinally touches on all of these like this does, I think it's an important thing for the state, and I would be derelict if I didn't at least, for the next year, give it a go in terms of implementation.

And then we're going to kind of follow it along with key metrics, and a year from now we're going to say, "Did it measure up or did it not?" And if it measures up in some of these key categories, it'll be here to stay.

CHRIS VANOCUR, ABC-4: Governor, any chance you could be flat out wrong about this? That this might fall on its face?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: I could be flat out wrong about a lot of things that we're doing. But again, I get back to, you know, are you going to hesitate based upon fear of the unknown, or is there enough there in terms of positive returns for the state that compel you to want to move forward? And this is a compelling policy tool, and as we've looked kind of at microcosms, where this has been implemented at local government levels, I think the feedback so far has been good.When you talk to the HR professionals, and the university professionals who sort of follow these trends, they say there's more good than bad in this model. Now, no state has done it writ large. We're going to be the first.

And so are we going to anticipate some issues that have been anticipated? Probably. But you know, if you're at the vanguard, that usually is the case. But, you know, we're a happening state, and we ought to be out there first doing this kind of thing.

ROBERT GEHRKE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: As a consumer of state services, where the rubber meets the road, are we going to see drastic changes? You mentioned that DNR will be closed on Fridays, if I want to go get a fishing permit or hunting permit I'm going to have to do that on Tuesday or Wednesday, I guess, now, or leave work early or something?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Yeah, and that's a fair point. Because I brought that same thing up. And here I was thinking in terms of, you know, my Uncle Hal back in Fillmore, you know. If he wants to go out and get a hunting license or fishing license, you know, so what does it mean, you know, if we're going Monday Thursday instead of Monday Friday? Only to be reminded that, you know, the world has changed a little bit since Uncle Hal used to go out and get his permits, and it can be done on line, totally on line. And you figure that, you know, 65, 68 percent of our tax returns are being done on line, up from 50 some odd percent last year, more and more people are actually, you know, using the on line capabilities. And so if we've got 800 plus services that are provided on line, including what you just mentioned, I think people are going to start understanding a better way to get things done.

RICHARD PIATT, KSL-5: Governor, may I ask

ROBERT GEHRKE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Like human services, corrections, they're exempt from this? The Governor's office, I'm assuming is exempt from this?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: No, no change.

RICHARD PIATT, KSL-5: May I ask about something else really quick? The U.S. Supreme Court of course this morning ruled and affirmed an individual's right to carry a hand gun. Here in this state there's been some discussion at the legislature about Utah's policy regarding out of state residents who have permits issued in Utah. You have some concerns about that, that policy that you've stated. Would you mind going through those?

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: I do. I have to see if things like this are in the interest of our state. And I have yet to identify where this serves any of our state's interests by giving licenses to, or permits to people who don't reside here. There's no way to measure quality control, we're making use of our DPS personnel and their time, that is otherwise better spent here in the state.

And if somebody wants a concealed carry permit, let's use it as a travel and tourism opportunity. Have them come here to our state and go through the prerequisites here, while staying in our hotels, and dining in our rest restaurants, as opposed to doing it somewhere in another state.

I'm not totally comfortable with the way things are being done, and I've made my feelings known. And DPS has also come to me saying an that they have some issues that they're not totally comfortable with, and I've said, "Well let's get serious about this.

Let's take a look at it and see what interests are being served, what kind of liability we might be carrying, what kind of time is this taking away from our DPS employees that otherwise would be more productively spent somewhere else?" And you know, concealed carry rights are an important thing to people in this state. And I respect that. But as it relates to the relationship with people who don't live in this state, I have a hard time getting comfortable with that one.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED-7: Governor, we only have about 30 minutes, 30 seconds left in our allotted time. Anyone listening to this announcement, looking at the current economic climate, looking at the current be energy prices, would say this is a crisis management plan that you're advocating in four 10s, but you seem to be saying that that does not enter into the consideration.

GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Oil prices are going to ebb and flow over the next few years, guaranteed. This is a kind of thing that long term is good for our state, because it is tied just in one measure to the price of gas. You've got energy efficiency, you've got the environment, you've got employee morale, customer service, that are all well beyond the price of gasoline. So long term, this is a good thing.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED-7: Governor, thank you very much for your time. A reminder that an opportunity to view this program is available on line, as well as with a transcript, visit us on line at KUED.org.

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