November 18, 2004

On education: “We’ve had time to focus on reading. I’m hoping math and writing would follow.” On tax reform: “If not now, when. If not Olene Walker, who?” On the budget: “It will be a much more pleasant task.” On her initiatives: “Whose name is attached to it doesn’t matter.”

Reporters (in order of appearance):

KEN VERDOIA, KUED
RICH PIATT, KSL-TV
DAN BAMMES, KUER
ROD DECKER, KUTV
TOM JORDAN, METRO NETWORK
REBECCA WALSH, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

Transcript:

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor Walker, thanks for joining us today. One of the most discussed and anticipated initiatives of your last months in office has been on the subject of tax reform. And it's been discussed since August, I know it's been worked on much more before then. Where do we stand in this process?

GOVERNOR WALKER: I can guarantee we will announce it before the end of the term. That's December 31st. We're still working on it, we've had unbelievable effort put forth by all the advisors. I can't begin to tell you how many hours, days, weeks they've spent analyzing it, a lot of difficult decisions, and we will roll it out in the near future.

RICH PIATT, KSL-TV: As with anything like that there's going to be winners and losers with tax reform. Are you receiving pressure from anyone to not release it?

GOVERNOR WALKER: No. No, we haven't. Every other initiative that we've announced, we've met the deadlines. This one just turned out to be, require far more scrutiny, additional hours, but we're not receiving any pressure. I'm certain that this will be the case of any tax reform. Everyone will notice where they are the losers, and hardly notice where they're the winners. So I think that you'll have every individual looking to see if they were, in any area, were the losers and we'll probably hear from them.

DAN BAMMES, KUER: Will it include any dramatic changes, things that will open eyes when it's first rolled out?

GOVERNOR WALKER: We included a review of the total system, and we'll save that for the press conference.

ROD DECKER, KUTV: If I understand, you intend to be revenue neutral. You don't intend to raise any more or less, or at least not much more or less revenue. You intend to shift it.

GOVERNOR WALKER: We tried very hard to make it revenue neutral. And because we wanted people to focus in on the policy, not that we were increasing, or decreasing taxes.

ROD DECKER, KUTV: And secondly, my understanding is, a chief concern, maybe the chief concern, is that the base of taxes are diminishing. That fewer people- - A lot of people are getting out of sales tax, a lot of people aren't paying income tax, a lot of people are escaping taxes in part, or altogether, and your general strategy is to tax more people at a lower rate; is that accurate?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Let's wait until the press announcement. But obviously we've already announced, or discussed with the public the fact that the tax base that the state relies on in all three areas are declining, and so that became a critical part of our discussion. The one area that they have a base that's very stable with some increase is the property tax. And of course the state has not been involved in the property tax.

TOM JORDAN, METRO NETWORK: Governor, how much involvement does either the incoming governor or the legislature have in this?

GOVERNOR WALKER: The work has been exclusively that of the group that I've been working with. Of course we will inform both the governor-elect and the legislature when we put forth the plan.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Isn't there a substantial risk that there will be no ownership of the Olene Walker plan, and it might wither and die without an advocate to carry it forward?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Of course. But we're putting it forth for all the citizens. We want them to review it. We want them to study it, analyze it, and if they can make improvements, great. And that's the process. I'm not going to insist that it be presented, even in the legislature, in the form that we will recommend. But certainly we want citizens, chambers of commerce, the legislature, obviously, Governor-elect Huntsman, all of them to seriously analyze it, and if they can improve on it, I'm delighted.

ROD DECKER, KUTV: You're working on a budget.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Yes.

ROD DECKER, KUTV: What I've heard is that you have about $225 million in new money. And I should guess it's going up, maybe a little more than $225 million in new money. Can you tell us if that's about what you're working on?

GOVERNOR WALKER: You know, we're expecting final revenue estimates in the near future, and we're waiting for those final revenue estimates. We waited until after the election to start the budget hearings, so that the, whoever was elected governor could have someone sit in with us on those budget hearings. We've now completed those, and we're just in the process of trying to put everything in perspective and prioritizing. It's obvious that it will be a much more pleasant task putting the budget together this year than it was last year.

Reporter: So that's more new money.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Last year revenues were flat.

Reporter: Okay, that's more new money than this year than last year?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well last year, when we looked at it in October, November revenues were absolutely flat. And yes, we do have more revenue to look at this year. We won't know the exact amount until the new what they called TC-23 reports come in, and the figures are finalized, that we'll work off of.

ROD DECKER, KUTV: The transportation committee, the joint interim transportation committee, decided against recommending for a tax increase, or an increase in the gas tax, and decided, instead, that they should take 180 million more dollars from general fund and put it into building roads. Can you support $180 million of new money out of the general fund over two years to build roads?

GOVERNOR WALKER: As I took a quick look at their report, I didn't notice where they wanted to take that $180 million from, and I want to ask them where it's coming from before I give an answer.

ROD DECKER, KUTV: They've answered that, or at least some of them have as individuals. They say if nothing else grows we can get $180 million for roads. Everything can stay the same, and we can then build $180 million worth of new roads, or at least that's what Senator Valentine said, who sits on the committee. Can you support $180 million for roads?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well I would have to challenge the premise. Because we projected 145,000 new students in the next ten years. We projected seven thousand, I believe, 600 for this school year. This year we have 8,600. We were low on our projections. Next year we had projected 8,400. They are now projecting 9,600. To say that if everything stays the same, obviously it isn't going to stay the same. So we've got a situation where we know we have tremendous growth. And growth in schools translates to growth in corrections, youth corrections, growth in human services, growth in our court system. It's a good premise to say if everything stays the same, but it's obvious we've got tremendous growth.

ROD DECKER, KUTV: Will your budget suggest an increase in the WPU, that is an increase in the amount per student that goes to schools for teachers' salaries and stuff like that? Will there be some increase?

GOVERNOR WALKER: I hope you all show up at the press conference when I release my budget, and you will really find out at that time. But I only want to make the comment, we've had four years where we've had very little increase in either the WPU or the salaries. We're hoping that revenues are such that we can see some increase in those areas. But again, we'll have to wait until the budget comes together to make that final decision.

TOM JORDAN, METRO NETWORK: Governor, you are working, I know, in the background, working on an economic development initiative.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Yes.

TOM JORDAN, METRO NETWORK: Can you tell me about what you're focusing on for that? It's a broad subject. The areas you particularly want to focus on?

GOVERNOR WALKER: We've focused in many areas. One of them is looking at what universities and colleges can do to work with businesses in the private sector to spin off jobs. One thing that's exciting is that we've had what we call a geocouncil that's been working since last summer on some exciting things. And today we're putting out what is called an RFI, request for interest, on anyone that would want to be involved in building, involved in a world trade center in Salt Lake, thinking that we've got to expand our visibility as a logical hub in western United States as a place where global corporations can have their headquarters with great distribution across the western United States. We're a logical spot because of our great language capabilities, because we have more individuals speaking additional languages than any other state. We certainly have that global interest with the number of ambassadors that have been here, and we see some exciting results coming out of what we call the geocouncil.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor, we're going to turn our attention now to Logan. We have a question from a reporter on hand at Utah State University. And it happens to be Lee Austin of Utah Public Radio. Lee.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Hello, Lee.

LEE AUSTIN, UTAH PUBLIC RADIO: Hello, Governor. I'd like to ask as question, again, about the preparation of the budget, not so much what's going to be the outcome, but the process where you have this period of transition. I'm wondering how much input the representatives of Governor-elect Huntsman have in the process, specifically if there's an issue where you clearly disagree. How do you resolve that, or is this, you know, basically 100 percent Olene Walker's budget?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well, the process is basically the fact that we go through a budget hearing process, and as I mentioned we've already invited a representative of the Huntsman administration to join us. We will then get the final revenue projections, and put together a budget that we feel meets the needs of the citizens of the state. Certainly Governor Huntsman will have the opportunity to look at that budget, and he has an opportunity to put forth an amended budget to the legislature. These documents will then go to the legislature, and they will be analyzed, poured over, as you know, in the legislative property process, and then the official budget will emerge. Certainly I will take into consideration some of the issues that Governor-elect Huntsman has talked about, but I certainly want the new governor to have an opportunity to make any changes that he sees fit in the budget that we put forth.

DAN BAMMES, KUER: Governor, Initiative 1, the open space amendment, was defeated in the election.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Yes.

DAN BAMMES, KUER: In part due to your opposition. And I'm wondering, now that we won't be appropriating money by initiative, if the issue of open space will get any more attention, and perhaps more funding, more funding, for example, for the LeRay McAllister fund.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Obviously, with additional revenues, the areas that we've had to cut back significantly, many of those areas will at least be considered. And certainly I think the legislature, and certainly in my budget we will consider some of those requests. And I think it's only fitting that we look across the board at such areas that have been, had limited funding in the past. It wasn't a singled out area not to put money in the LeRay McAllister fund. There are many, many areas of government that were totally cut out. At least during the down turn there was some money put into that fund. So I think that this is an opportunity for us to look across the board at areas that should be funded.

RICH PIATT, KSL-TV: Governor, Governor-elect Huntsman said in his first news conference after the election that he was willing to expend political capital that he has built up to make significant progress in state government, and he left that question open. In your opinion, is it worth, knowing what you know now, and as the outgoing
governor, is it worth expending political capital to take on things like the tax reform, ethics reform in the legislature, and even the hate crimes bill?

GOVERNOR WALKER: I think those are difficult decisions. Of course I pondered, clear back in December when I made the announcement on tax reform, whether it was essential that we take it on. And I looked at it and I made the analysis that whoever is governor, it's going to be a very, very difficult task to take it on. And I looked at the position I was in, and had to say, if not now, when? If not Olene Walker, who? And so I felt that for the future of Utah, that it needed to be looked at, analyzed, and really have a group seriously look at where we are going in terms of tax policy. It has been far more time consuming than I thought, and I was pretty well aware of what was involved. But I think that, yes, it was worthwhile doing, because I think for the future of Utah it was essential.

RICH PIATT, KSL-TV: What about with the ethics reform? Has the time come for there to be a total ban on gifts and lunches and perks and whatnot at the legislature, in your opinion?

GOVERNOR WALKER: If I had my choice, I would say that should be the policy. But I'm not certain it's the governor's prerogative to make that decision. It is the legislators' prerogative to make that decision.

RICH PIATT, KSL-TV: One of the major newspapers in Salt Lake, I think it was the Salt Lake Tribune, came out with a very strong editorial in favor of a hate crimes bill. Now that Amendment 3 has passed some of the concerns legislators have traditionally brought up about hate crimes bill being a gateway to same-sex marriage is now over, we can pass a hate crimes bill. Is a hate crimes bill something that you would sign if you had the opportunity to?

GOVERNOR WALKER: It's very hard to make a generic commitment on any bill without reading the language. Because so often the titles sound so great. We've mentioned the Initiative 1, and I am totally for clean water, open space, trails, recreation, all those things. It's in the details that often you have to make those very tough decisions. And it's very hard for me, on a hate crimes bill, to say yes, irregardless, without reading it, I'm for it. I'm for the concept if it can be written in a way that doesn't cause problems in other areas.

REBECCA WALSH, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: How do you feel the Amendment 3 potential lawsuit should be handled? There's been some debate in the legislature about whether or not the attorney general should handle any defense of the state. Do you think that the attorney general should handle that defense?

GOVERNOR WALKER: We have a very well-qualified attorney general's office. It's the largest law firm in the state of Utah. I certainly think that within that law firm image, or the state attorney general's office, there's a capability of handling it.

REBECCA WALSH, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: In the last press conference you said that you had some concerns about the amendment, and then later on you said you were probably going to vote for that anyway.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Yes.

REBECCA WALSH, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Could you tell us why you decided to vote for it anyway?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well, I think it's common knowledge that I would have preferred just the first sentence. I think that was fitting for what a Constitution should be--general principles. I felt that in the light of so many other states having it on the ballot, that it would be very difficult if Utah came out and didn't pass that amendment. And for that reason, I said that I would support it. If you ask my preference, it's clear. I would have rather just had the first statement, I felt that the Constitution should state principles, not the specifics. They should be in statute. I still feel that way. I suspect there will be some attempts to put in statutes of clarification of some type. And I would support that.

REBECCA WALSH, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Are you talking about the reciprocal beneficiary legislation?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Right.

REBECCA WALSH, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: You support that idea?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Again, it's hard to say when you haven't seen a bill. But yes, overall, in concept.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor, Jon Huntsman campaigned for governor on a simple theme, a new day for Utah. Let's accept that analogy, sun setting on one administration, one era, 12-year era of the Leavitt and Walker administration, sun rising on a new administration, the Jon M. Huntsman administration. What do you hope might be carried forward, specifically from your perspective in terms of initiatives, in this new administration, so that it's not just considered a gone era, but an era that had some initiatives that should be carried into the future?

GOVERNOR WALKER: I think there are many issues. We've talked a great deal about the tax reform. I hope that effort is carried forward.

Certainly in education, looking at individual students mastering basic skills. We've had time to focus on reading. I'm hoping math and writing would follow. I don't feel that the effort should go much beyond that, but that would set the basis. And with the influx of new students, we need to look at the individual skills.

The watershed initiative proved to be a great success, and ironically, Senator Bennett, without any lobbying on my part, put additional funds from the federal level. I think we need to be continued partnerships in that.

I look at public lands. For the first time I think we have a solution, at least that seems apparent. Now, whether it works out, I can't say at this point. It's too early. But we're going county by county, looking at land use. And in a sense, this solves the road problem in a far more effective, efficient way, than the process we now have of solving the RS 2477 roads, or determining who owns roads, federal government or counties. I hope that process continues. It's very promising for the first time. We've had a commitment from all the different groups to stay at the table until it's resolved. And I'm very optimistic about it, and Governor-elect Huntsman has concurred that the process should continue.

Certainly there are areas in helping foster children transition into adulthood that is essential, and I think we've had the private sector, the churches, non-profits, all step up and partner, and it's remarkable what they've done in one year in helping these foster care kids, who are usually lost, get high school degrees. Several of them, as a result of the program, are now in college. Many of them are gaining skills at U-CAT. This is a great transitional program. That's another area that I hope proceeds forward.

There are several areas that I hope continue, and I'm delighted if they want to re-label it their program. That's great. I think the important thing is that we solve those issues. Certainly, in reading and getting parents involved in reading is critical. And focusing on mastering of basic skills is essential. In many areas, I think the programs or objectives will continue. Whose name is attached to it doesn't matter.

TOM JORDAN, METRO NETWORK: You've got a water initiative that obviously is about to crank up. What are your expectations for that?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Our expectations are really for that task force to look at how we should fund those projects. It isn't a task force that is established to look at where they should be established. We still have significant water rights in the Colorado River and the Green River. And their task is to look at ways to fund the projects that are already designed and will be needed in the future. In terms of the pipe line from Lake Powell to Washington County, the feeling is now that it may be needed as early as 2020. And there were some that felt that they could wait until 2010 to start looking at it. With the process we now have to go through for such proposals to be put into reality, we're probably a year or two late in starting. So I felt it essential that we get the task force up and running to look at how we could fund it.

ROD DECKER, KUTV: There was a time when you objected to money taken from the general fund for water projects. Are you now reconciled to that?

GOVERNOR WALKER: What I was saying is that we put 1/16 of our sales tax into water projects, and that fund has grown, if you combined all three fundings, to $700 million. And if you take the revenues from those, which are $44 million, you can adequately fund what those funds were set up to do--to help small water districts, and small cities. I'm saying we need to look at a new way to fund these long-term water developments, but they should be focused on those that use the water.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: And unfortunately the press of issues doesn't give us an opportunity to fully extend to you the best wishes for a Thanksgiving season to you and your family. We must move to our close and indicate that a transcript of this and every governor's news conference is available on line at www.uen.org courtesy of the Utah Education Network. Until next time, Ken Verdoia, good night.

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