November 14, 2013

My number one budget priority as everybody knows here is education. -Governor Herbert on KUED

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Good day.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Good morning, Governor.

GOVERNOR HERBERT: It's always nice to be with you. Thank you for being here. And I'll just say that as I drove in, I noticed we've got a little change in the weather patterns, a little nip in the air as we see wintertime is coming. With the seasons changing I know that we've got in our future a couple of different things that are going to take place. One, ski season's around the corner. Some of our resorts are already opening up and that's a good sign for our holiday season and for the ski industry. Secondly, holidays are around the corner. Thanksgiving and Christmas and Hanukah and other holiday seasons are on the front porch there and we're looking forward to those things too. But also there's another season and that's the inversion season, is here now and we're approaching that, starting at least the inversion season. Which leads me to say to all of us, you know we all understand the need to have good air quality, and if we don't have good air quality, it's going to impact our health, negatively. It's going to impact our economy negatively, and so we all need to be a part of the solution, and the good news for all of us is that we do have opportunities to be a part of the solution and we have got organizations that will help us. No one can do everything, but all of us can do something, and if we'll do that we can deal with our air quality.

Let me just mention four areas. Our envision Utah, which has done some great things in helping us plan for growth along the Wasatch Front and here in the state, has now taken on the responsibility of our clean air action team. Again a group designed of stakeholders from all sides of these issues, to take input from the public to develop rules, regulations and even proposed legislation, a great committee to take input from those who've got concerns and those who've got some ideas and suggestions that ought to be considered. So this is going to be a great opportunity for the public to weigh in.

Secondly, our state division of air quality, which has got a new APP you can actually get on your telephone, or your iPad, which will give you conditions of the day. Help us to in fact change our behavior so that we do not add to the air quality problem by additional pollution, and tell us when we ought to be taking mass transit or red air days and those kinds of things that help us.

We have our Utah Department of Transportation which has its own travel wise program which is again designed to help us, encouraging us to have mass transit, to use carpooling, again get less single vehicles off the roads, and again add less to our pollution.

And last but not least, our UTA, speaking of transit, which has expanded their lines and their service, which is again providing opportunities for us to reduce our vehicle miles traveled in single individual cars and reduce then our emissions.

Now I'm asking all the people of Utah to actually show you care, now that's an entree to our organization of UCAIR which means there are little things that all of us can do. We can in fact lower our thermostats. We can in fact quit idling our automobiles. It goes and is worth repeating that the majority of the pollution we have in these inversions come from our tailpipes. You know nearly 60 percent of the pollution comes from tailpipes. Only about 11 or 12 percent comes from industrial sights so everybody has a role to play and we certainly have as individuals the opportunity to be a part of the solution. So UCAIR will provide with ongoing tips, as far as what we can do as individuals in our households to improve the air quality. Our website we have is at UCAIR.org, U-C-A-I-R dot org.

And our UCAIR chairman Ted Wilson, who most of you are familiar with, a great environmentalist and a good individual, is going to help us to all work together to clean up the air. So let me conclude by saying we can't change the weather, we have unique weather patterns here and unique meteorology, but we can change our behavior and if we all work together, if we all do a little, we can in fact save a lot when it comes to polluting our air shed outside and make it better for all of us. So again, I'm looking forward to working with everybody in improving the air in Utah, because we do care.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor, I'm going to change directions slightly--in this setting in August--actually I'm going to change it dramatically--in this setting in August you indicated that you would not want to see the state of Utah rush forward in the consideration of the expansion of the eligible Medicaid population. You set your sights on 2014, said you would work in collaboration with the Utah State Legislature. Advocates for the expansion of the population are now saying that if you're sincere in considering all options, you will roll out a budget recommendation, a plan A and a plan B, one that would reflect expansion, one that would not reflect expansion. Will you in fact consider doing that as you put forward your budget recommendations?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Well rolling out the budget and the budget that we're going to put together as we do every year has no bearing on Medicaid expansion. We work with consensus numbers. We work the legislature to determine how much money we have to spend and then I roll a budget based on prioritization of what we need to have government provide as services to the people. So that's already set up. There's no need, in fact no ability, to run two budgets with different numbers. We have one budget with one set of numbers, so Medicaid expansion does impact really the state budget all. And there's no ability to run two budgets, so it's just- - I know they want to advocate this group for Medicaid expansion. I understand that. I get it.

We have a number of people out there who say that's the way to go. And we're certainly considering that as an option, and there's other options out there and we'll look at the way to do Medicaid and Medicaid expansion in what is the best interest the taxpayers of Utah, knowing the short-term and long-term. We are analyzing the ramifications of doing full expansion or not doing any expansion. We are very concerned about anybody who'd be left in the cracks. There is a kind of a donut hole. Again the Affordable Care Act when was created presupposed the the states would in fact I take care of those below 100 percent of poverty. There's a flaw in the Affordable Care Act. That's probably no surprise to anybody as we've watched the roll out, to see that there's some flaws in and the Affordable Care Act itself, but we are going to address those issues and we're going to come up with the Utah solution to our unique Utah problem.

ROD DECKER, KUTV-2: There was a study early last spring--I believe you commissioned it--and in any case it went to you--and it said that over time several hundred million dollars of federal money would come in and so forth. Somebody's calculated from that and I don't think it was-- I don't remember it exactly in the study, but somebody's calculated from it, that for the next year's budget there would be an $11-million difference. If we expanded Medicaid, that would give us $11-million more to spend. Is that enough of a difference to make a difference in any of your budget calculations?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Certainly something to be considered, but I don't know that it's going tip the scales one way or the other. In a $13-billion budget, $11-million is not enough to probably redirect our priorities, but it's certainly a sizable amount of money. Part of the discussion though and the analysis was we're going to have some economic growth that will take place with these federal dollars, and that's probably a true thing, but there also is an economic loss when you take the money away from people have to pay the additional taxes, so you can't have this side that is positive without recognizing there's going to be a negative as we redistribute wealth and take away from people's own household spending and put it in to some other areas. So it's probably a wash on balance as for the economy overall, but again we want to find out what's the best policy for Utah, making sure we take care of those who are most vulnerable amongst us, and yet respect the taxpayers' dollars going forward.

ROD DECKER, KUTV-2: Maybe 120-thousand people who don't have health insurance would go on M edicaid expansion, some large number. You've talked before and you've said, if I've understood you, we need to do something to make sure that they're taken care of. Could you talk about that a little bit. Do you believe that, expand or not expand, those people have to be taken care of?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: I think that people do need to be taken care of. Again there is a donut hole whether its 123,000. I've heard that number, it's probably closer 60,000, somewhere in that neighborhood, of those who are below poverty, poverty defined as 100 percent, those below 100 percent would need to be taken care of. There's ways to do it, it's not just charitable care, although that's a part of the solution, I expect going forward. There's also the ability to subsidize payments, and make sure that people have the ability to buy insurance, and maybe at a subsidized rate that could be dealt with either with federal dollars or with other kind of revenues that we would have that the state could put in to subsidize money. There is the ability in fact to take care of people, I think in a variety of ways, and probably a hybrid way.

I'm a little bit concerned about some the richness of the benefit that comes from comes from the Affordable Care Act. I've said before a family of four, you can be making $94-thousand a year and still get subsidy for your insurance premiums, and for a lot of people they think, wow that's pretty, pretty generous. You can be making about $185 to 190-thousand when you have the maximum size of family and still get subsidized insurance premiums. That's a pretty generous benefit. So we need to decide whether that's what we want to do in Utah. Let's find the optimal point and move ahead. That may include some expansion but maybe not all expansion.

GLEN MILLS, ABC-4: The President of the United States addressed the country just minutes ago regarding affordable care act and some of the problems. One of the fixes he rolled out was to extend these insurance policies that are getting expired for another year. I know in Utah we elected for early renewals, so we've already seen that in our state anyway, but even with the numbers coming out yesterday, 357 Utahns enrolling in the Affordable Care Act, talk about the impact that these issues and problems that we're seeing have on the state of Utah with the affordable care act?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Well clearly the biggest problem I see is with the economic impact, the uncertainty of what the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, is doing to the private sector is a big concern. We see slow downs that are taking place across the country. We see businesses that are saying we don't know the answers to the questions we're asking and we don't know where to go from here. Are we going to have to engage in a year from now the business community individual mandate? What if we don't get signed up before January first and is there a fall back? What's the cost going to be? People can't access the web page. Even if they get on, they don't get comparison costs. I mean there's a lot of uncertainty out there, which is having a significant negative impact on the marketplace. I think we all- - any rational person says this roll out has been an abysmal failure.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED-7: Governor, the political wags are saying the rollout of Obamacare is to this president as the handling of hurricane Katrina was to president George W. Bush. That public confidence, once deeply shaken, is difficult to restore. Now if you were asked to cross party lines and step into the White House and offer some advice on how this president might seek to restore public confidence, what would you recommend?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Well he needs to find a bipartisan solution. Again the flaw in the Affordable Care Act in the beginning was it was so partisan. I mean there's not anybody that crossed party lines. It's hard. You say once you lose confidence and once you kind of set a trajectory, it's hard to get that trust back and that confidence. We set a trajectory which was was designed really to be partisan from its inception, and never did they invite any governors or the states to participate in the discussion, so it was very partisan in the beginning. It's still partisan today. But everybody seems to agree that there's fixes that need to be made.

The president himself has said I know there's some flaws. There needs to be modifications and changes. Republicans talk in terms of about repeal and replace. You know and improve and modify and repeal and replace are similar concepts. You'd think with some leadership, we could actually bring those two factions together and say let's find ways to improve, modify. If it's repeal and replace, but there's got to be a replacement mechanism that improves the system. President Clinton is saying, hey you've got to honor to promises you made, President Obama, when you said nobody would lose their insurance policies period, those promises need to be honored.

The promises of reduction of costs are not being honored. When you said we're going to reduce premiums by $25-hundred, the premiums have gone up on an average of $25-hundred. The promise was it cost us about $900- billion in its inception. The latest CBO office has said the cost now is $2.7-trillion to implement the program. And I would suggest is it's rising.

If we look at history as an indicator, when we had Medicaid and Medicare in the early 60's they said, the government said, the cost of this is going to be about $90-billion dollars by 1990, but the cost in 1990 was $900-billion. They were off by ten fold. If that's the same kind of indication we're going to have with Obamacare in the next 25 years, we've got a significant problem when it comes to, can we afford the Affordable Care Act?

MAX ROTH, FOX-13: Governor, I wanted to ask you about what you said about subsidies with health care, and it being problematic to subsidized families up to such a high income. The state government subsidizes large families in terms of education, because our income tax goes toward education and we get subsidies if we have children. Essentially we get deductions credits. There's going to be a proposal at the state legislature that- - to take away deductions and credits for children, under the state income tax. Do you support that in order to get more money to schools?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Well I need to look at the bill to see what the ratifications of the bill are before I decide if I support it or not. Conceptually, I think we need to look at anything, and look at the cost to the benefit. We as a state have decided that there are in fact deductions that we have with our children because the benefit of having them educated and their contributions later on to the economy and to society offset the cost of that deduction, the lack of revenue or taxes that would come in. Raising taxes, which is the end result of this, maybe the right thing to do.

But the concern I would have is, will it have a dampening effect on the economy? Again, well intentioned as tax increases maybe--and it seems simple we need more money let's just raise taxes--but we don't see the longterm ramification of a dampening and a slowing of the economy. So that the net result could be we actually have less money with a tax increase, than without a tax increase. We've had great success in growing our economy, we're one of the best places in America, our economy is growing better than most any state in America, and because of that we've been able to, last year, put $300-million of new money into education. That's a good way to get new money without having to raise taxes and stifling the economic expansion that's occurring here in Utah.

LISA RILEY ROCHE, DESERET NEWS: But did you say you would consider a tax increase next session? You'll take a look at it, you'll consider it, or are you rejecting it out of hand because of your concerns about the impact on the economy?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Well I'm always willing to consider any proposal. Again, I'm not so dogmatic that you know I'm not willing to listen to other ideas to see if we can't reason together and find a better way to do things. I've already talked in terms of we need to start talking about how we are going to fund long term our roads. Our infrastructure, the system we haven't place right now is being eroded with are purchasing power and loss to inflation, and the fact that our vehicle miles are being reduced per miles driven with more efficient, fuel efficient automobiles. So we're not getting the proportion amount of purchasing power that we've had in the past. So that's a discussion we ought to have. I'm not calling for a tax increase, but I'm calling for a discussion. And let's look long term I'm how we're going to fund roads. Well we can look long term about how are going to find education, too. And I'm certainly willing to engage in any kind of a discussion.

ROD DECKER, KUTV 2: The Union Pacific Railroad says their trestle across the Great Salt Lake is wearing out in places and they may have a train wreck. They want to do stuff and they're going to need state permission to do most of what they want to do. Have you looked at it? Do you know what should done?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: I really don't know much about that. But I can tell you that clearly safety of that trestle and that track has got to be a primary concern and something that we ought to engage with the railroad people and see if there's a way we can help and assist them in making sure that doesn't deteriorate to the point it becomes a safety hazard.

ROBERT GEHRKE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: If I could go back to Medicaid expansion a little bit, understanding you haven't made your decision on it yet, can you explain to us a little bit your values, your faith, your principles, and how that's how that's coloring or how that shaping how you're approaching this issue, vis-a-vis how the states- - does the state have an obligation how to care for- - to help care for the poor, and how are you working through that?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Well I try to start with the end in mind, kind of quoting Steve Covey, one of our famous citizens here of Utah. If the end game in mind is we want to have a healthy population, and how do we get the best outcomes how to have good health, then we need to talk in terms individual responsibility. We need to talk about affordability and access to healthcare. We need to talk in terms of short term and long term. And see if we can't get the best healthcare outcomes.

We recognize that there are people who are vulnerable amongst us, some that are out of jobs, and domestic problems. Divorce causes a lot of issues with healthcare, where we don't have the resources to access preventative health care, and do the check ups that we need to do, and so we end up going to the emergency rooms. So those are part of the discussion.

I am a Ronald Reagan Republican when I believe that there are safety net issues that government has a role to play. But there's no single answer. There's no single solution. Government has a role to play, particularly when it comes to safety net issues. But the private sector has a role to play, too. Charitable care is part of it. We can be more efficient in the delivery of services, in many instances with private organizations, as opposed to filtering money through a government organization that is not as effective in delivering services. And certainly we as individuals have responsibilities take care of our own health, to eat right, to exercise, to do what we can to maximize our health outcomes. Some things happen to us that are beyond our control, and we need assistance and help. And so all of those areas--private, public, individual, family--need to come together to help us have the outcome of having the healthiest population we can possibly have in Utah.

ROBERT GEHRKE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Do you believe it's a right to receive care what you have health care access to healthcare?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: I don't consider a right. It's like do I have a right to eat steak vs. hamburger? I mean or drive a more expensive vehicle? I think we want to make sure that people have the ability and the opportunity to have access to good healthcare. They have individual responsibility to pay their own bills and find their own way in life. That's part of what's made America great is the opportunity to be the best you can be and exceed beyond your wildest dreams. We recognize that there are people that struggle, that have a need a helping hand, but that doesn't mean that government is the only source for that helping hand. That's a mistake we make and think that government will take care of us from cradle to grave. It's very efficient at doing that, and it becomes very expensive to the rest of people who are out there producing the wealth, and creating the economic growth and expansion. So it's a combination of everything.

MAX ROTH, FOX-13: Governor, I asked Attorney General John Swallow last week if he was concerned at your appointment with Spencer Cox, because Cox was so out front in his criticism of Swallow and calling for impeachment. Certainly you must have been aware of that when you make that appointment, and I wonder what role that played in your decision-making process, were you signaling something about what you think about that issue?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: No, I was not signaling anything. I picked the best person that I thought was available out there, that would be a complement to our team, and help us move the agenda that I have for Utah, focusing on the economy and growing jobs and creating the great quality of life that we enjoy hear in Utah.

MAX ROTH, FOX-13: But him being so outspoken on the issue wasn't a disqualifier to you?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: It was not a disqualifier to me at all. It was something I didn't even consider. He has opinions. He's done some great work in the legislature. He's very bright guy. He's a lawyer and a legal mind and a business person. He's a good fit for us. His voting on other bills and issues and his statements really, although something we were aware of, certainly was not a disqualifier for me at all.

RICHARD PIATT, KSL-TV: We started this news conference by talking about air quality. There's a group in North Salt Lake, who live near that Stericycle medical incinerator plant, who think that in spite of your call for the DEQ to conduct a study, that you're not going far enough, that you're not taking it seriously, that you should test for mercury as well as the other chemicals that are coming out of those- - coming out of the facility. What do you say to the people who are just not satisfied right now that that you and the state is taking this seriously enough?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Well I recognize that no matter what I do, there's going to be somebody that's not satisfied. That's just kind of the nature of the work and the nature of the community. Some say you do too much. Some say you don't do enough. So I recognize that going in.

We do it take it seriously. I'm very concerned about health ramifications of Stericyle and other industries out there for that matter, not just Stericyle. We have a role in government to make sure that the public is protected. Really the two roles the government has with rulers and regulations is to protect us from each other, to protect the public, and to make sure there's a level playing field, so everybody has equal opportunity.

Under the adage of protecting the public, you know health issues and concerns, the environment, are part of our responsibility. And because of that we've asked the Department of Health to go out and analyze on a tiered study as far as what are the health ramifications of Stericycle? That first tier has been completed. Based on the historical documents and the data that we have out there, they say there's not a- - no evidence that there's any health concern, but its outdated, so we're going to do a new study with new soil samples and take a look at all the things that are taking place out there currently and see if there's other reasons for concern.

RICHARD PIATT, KSL-5: Is it your understanding that the company is planning on closing that facility still?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: I don't know what their plans are for specifically closing it or are moving it. Again I hear there's discussions about relocation. We certainly have turned information over to the EPA to have them review and to study and possibly even criminal accusations what come out of that information. But right now we go out there each and everyday to make sure that they're in compliance with their permit and not exceeding what they are allowed to as far as pollution. But we're going beyond that to make sure that there's not something that's been missed in the past or missed currently, and again I expect this will help us solve the problem and protect the people's health.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor we have about only 90 seconds left and I want to ask you- -

GOVERNOR HERBERT: - -time flies- -

KEN VERDOIA, KUED-7: - -a question and with an opportunity to respond. On three instances during this news conference, you've referenced the relative good health of the Utah economy, creating jobs, etc. How is that impacting your planning for the next fiscal year spending. You're meeting with department heads. You're formulating that plan. The water is higher by your own admission. Does that mean its going to have impact on the way we spend in the next year?

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Well clearly the good news is we're going to have more money. I mean that's great news. Not every state, not every place is being able to say that. The bad news is because of uncertainty out of Washington, D.C. and the Affordable Care Act and other things, there some uncertainty that's kind of dampening the growth that we've seen. And I expect we'll have maybe a lesser of a growth than we would hope for because of that. That being said, we'll have new money, and a significant amount of it which we'll be able to put in areas of need and concern. My number one budget priority as everybody knows here is education. I expect the majority that money, new money will into education in some form or fashion, helping towards our goal of 66 by 2020, which is inextricably linked to growing the economy. You've got to have a good labor force to grow the economy. So that's where our budget priorities will be and I expect for going to have a good, balanced proposal for our budget rollout that first part of December.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED-7: Governor, thank you for your time today.

GOVERNOR HERBERT: Thank you.

 

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