May 27, 2004

And quite frankly, it's nice to just be governor rather than being out trying to raise a couple of million dollars to participate in the primary and general election.

Reporters (in order of appearance):

KEN VERDOIA, KUED
RICH PIATT, KSL-TV
ROD DECKER, KUTV
PAUL FOY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
REBECCA WALSH, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
JOSH LOFTIN, DESERET MORNING NEWS
TOM JORDAN, METRO NETWORKS
CRAIG HISLOP, UTAH PUBLIC RADIO
DAN BAMMES, KUER
JANICE PERRY GULLY, KCPW

Transcript:

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor, thanks for joining us today. A couple of weeks have passed since you were rebuffed by your party at the state Republican convention for an opportunity to stand for election. Much has been made of that action by the party, and it's been characterized several ways. One is that it is a step away from moderation by the Republicans; one is that it’s not an endorsement of your most hallmark issue, which is public education. How do you characterize the state Republican vote?

GOVERNOR WALKER: I think it's the political process. There were eight great candidates running for governor, I got in the race late. Many of the candidates felt that I was a continuation of the existing administration, and that they sort of pointed that out many times to the delegates. And of course vouchers became an issue. I'd had a record of making some very tough decisions, and those that are not in office, the ones, the person they look to is the incumbent. And I happened to be the target. We all know that the delegates are probably more conservative than the mainstream Republicans and that could have been a factor. But it's the political process. And quite frankly, it's nice to just be governor rather than being out trying to raise a couple of million dollars to participate in the primary and general election.

RICH PIATT, KSL-TV: Governor, even though you've already addressed this issue, there are still a lot of people who keep talking about you as a write-in candidate. Is that something that you would consider, given your popularity rankings recently?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well, I'm very pleased with the public opinion approval of what I'm doing. But I think the decision has been made, and I will not authorize a write-in.

TOM JORDAN, METRO NETWORKS: You were saying it's, in part was a matter of your being the incumbent and being attached to the previous administration. But the previous administration was extremely popular in the polls too. Isn't that a sort of rejection of what would be a success?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well, you know, in reality, he was, Governor Leavitt was very popular among the general population. But he also had some problems with the more right-wing area of the Republican Party. And so I think that there was some carryover from those issues, but certainly Governor Leavitt was very popular with the general public.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: How can you explain, then, this disconnect that exists between an 80 percent popular public opinion expression of support and a rejection in the state party convention? The two seem to be completely at odds with each other.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well, they're different groups, they’re different populations. I think we all know that those that participate in the Republican caucus are generally more conservative than 90 percent of the Republican Party, and I think you have the same thing in the Democratic Party. You tend to have the more liberal Democrats dedicated to going to their caucus. So I think the caucus system lends itself to having the more extreme wings of the parties participate more in the caucus system, and thus in the convention system. I think that there should be some effort among both parties to get a representative group to be delegates at their convention.

PAUL FOY, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Governor, what's the most important to you in the final seven months of your administration, and what do you think you can actually accomplish? I know you're trying to rank your priorities for the last few months.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Oh, my goodness, I'd hate to rank them. We are going to do several things dealing with higher education and economic development that we'd planned early on to do. They will take place in June, and that's an important step. I will continue to push competency-based education, and having kids master the basic skills. And that is an important criterion. Public lands are an issue that we've got exciting things happening. We're meeting in June in Washington County to start the wilderness process, and we're hoping to get several other counties started in that direction. And of course we'll continue to push on the RS-2477 roads. So there are many exciting projects out there. And I want to mention, too, that we'll be working on the water sheds throughout the state. I'm hoping to get to every county to participate in the water shed project this summer, so we're going to have a very busy summer and fall.

ROD DECKER, KUTV: The last legislature passed and you signed a bill that cut off all state funding for any institution that performed an abortion. It went into effect this month. And it had some unintended consequences, or at least some consequences that not everyone foresaw, in that some women who have fatal fetal deformities can't get any help from their ordinary doctor or in any Utah hospital. Some cases where they have to go to women's clinics, which are evidently less safe statistically, and they don't get their regular doctors. Have you paid attention to this problem?

GOVERNOR WALKER: I'm very concerned about it. I did check with the hospitals, the hospital association, and ask if they had any great concerns before I signed the bill. Obviously, as they've gotten further into it, they've brought up concerns. I understand that Senator Bramble said that he would work on the bill, perhaps solve the issue in the bill, and if- - I made an announcement that if he does that and has consensus of the legislature, I would put it on a special session if we have one.

RICH PIATT, KSL-TV: Senator Bramble this morning in one of the papers was quoted as blaming the medical community for not making that kind of possibility well known. Do you agree with that assessment?

GOVERNOR WALKER: I had heard about it, and so I had asked the hospitals, and they, at that time the message, as I understood it, was that they felt that they were okay with it. Obviously, as they've looked into it, they've had different thoughts, and they have different concerns, and if, that they didn't express to me at the time I signed the bill. But I certainly would agree that if Senator Bramble wants to take the lead and make an amendment to adjust for that and has the support of the legislature, I'd be very willing to put it on the call.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: But there are also voices from Utah's hospital community that say they were steamrolled during the legislative session and put in a position of having to oppose an abortion bill which would have cast them in a very negative light in the eyes of the legislature.

GOVERNOR WALKER: I would prefer the legislature speak for itself. I did ask, before I signed the bill, if they had serious concerns, and at the time I felt that they were okay with it. Now, I may have gotten the word back that was different than it was expressed, but that's the message that I got.

ROD DECKER, KUTV: There's a national warning about a possible terrorist attack, and I guess one of the things they've done is they've talked to states. Have you been briefed on the possibility of the, an imminent terrorist attack taking place in Utah? Or is this something that doesn't concern Utah so much?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Of course it concerns Utah, and I think that we're very well prepared. I'm very aware that we probably are more prepared than many states because of our Olympic considerations and our Olympic efforts. Also, we’re getting what we call Wind-UN into place, and that's by July 1st every part of the state, remote, rural, and urban can be connected by radio. That's part of our homeland defense effort. I am concerned. We haven't had notification that any specific target has been announced in Utah. That just hasn’t happened. But of course all the states are concerned about it.

ROD DECKER, KUTV: Are there any heightened security measures after the warning by Attorney General Ashcroft? Any heightened security measures in Utah?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Of course the law enforcement people are always on alert, and we have the pictures of the known terrorists that they're on alert to look out for. But not beyond that.

REBECCA WALSH, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Governor, what would be the timing of a special session to deal with the Carson Smith signing?

GOVERNOR WALKER: It depends on a couple of things. It depends on the Bramble bill, when they would be ready. There has been some in leadership that wanted to put the unfair practice act back on to make some corrections. That was the bill that they, the override took place, but there are several that feel that there needs to be some adjustments in that bill. And I understand they're working on it. And I think it will depend on those two bills when we have the special session.

JOHN LOFTIN, DESERET MORNING NEWS: Are there other issues that you're considering putting on? National Guard exemption, National Guard reservist tax exemption would be one?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Not at this point. It's very difficult to put budget issues on a special session, so we'll have to wait and see how that develops. Any time, though, you announce a special session, you find all sorts of issues emerge that you haven’t heard about. But at this time I'm hoping to keep it very narrow, and the only ones that I'm aware of would be the three.

TOM JORDAN, METRO NETWORKS: Governor, I've got a pair of related ethics questions, we just watched, of course, the guzzler gate issue all over the place. And seen the spectacle of the house majority leader going, "Gosh, I didn't mean to keep the money. Until the time you put it on the front page" or something. And because of your long time in public life, the state doesn't appear to have terribly effective ethics legislation. Do you think we need stronger ethics laws, and in conjunction with that- - Let’s just take that first. Do we need stronger ethics legislation in order to avoid a climate where this kind of thing can happen?

GOVERNOR WALKER: We are looking at our car use policy, which has them, and what safeguards we have them so that we don’t an incident. And I think that we're fairly comfortable with how we're handling it. We've decreased a number of individuals that have cars, especially in corrections and natural resources over the last ten years, and we're fairly comfortable with our policies. We are reviewing everyone that has an automobile, and looking at the history of it, and trying to make some determinations of whether they're all needed. I think we have a fairly good system of fleet management in the state, and I want it reviewed, though, to make certain that it's as good as I think it is.

TOM JORDAN, METRO NETWORKS: The related question, because you've been involved in public life for so long, do you think this kind of thing is possibly common, or is this a rare thing to have somebody actually double dipping?

GOVERNOR WALKER: I hope it's rare. But we need to review it. There's always the question that comes up with the legislature on gifts. I don't really believe there are a lot of abuses with gifts, and sometimes they may be almost unknowingly. But I would prefer a no-gift policy, because there’s no question on it then. And I don't think there are sufficient abuses- - I think there's more a public perception that there are abuses than actually occur, so I'm just saying, to prevent the public opinion, it may be better just to say no gifts, period.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor, we're now going to turn our attention to Logan and a question from Craig Hislop of Utah Public Radio. Craig?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Hello, Craig.

CRAIG HISLOP, UTAH PUBLIC RADIO: Hello Governor. We're being told that the high school graduation numbers are down just a little bit as far as the numbers of people leaving high schools. Obviously that will affect enrollments at the universities in the state. As we move ahead, how is that going to affect access funding that’s available to higher education? Does that mean still more problems ahead in the years to come?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well, I hope not. But you're seeing the results of the '90's, where we had rather a level public education population. In those ten years we had 17,000, compared to the next ten years, 145,000. So you're seeing start through the higher education system that leveling off period of the '90's. But in public ed, where we have 7,160 new students that will enter this fall, so we're starting on that baby boom level, which you will have in ten or twelve years. So you'll have a leveling off, but then the boom will come through to higher education. That doesn't mean necessarily that you'll have a great decrease in funding, because you still have major programs to fund. Again, it’s all dependent on the revenues.

DAN BAMMES, KUER: Governor, the Utah Foundation has conducted a series of studies as part of a project connected to the campaign for governor, and identified public education and transportation as two state issues that are on a collision course. You are at this point beginning your process of preparing a new state budget.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Yes.

DAN BAMMES, KUER: Do you see those two spending priorities on a collision course, and which one will win?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Actually, they are both funded basically from two different sources. Public ed is funded strictly from the income tax. Roads and highways are funded from the gas tax, and motor vehicle registration fees. So they’re basically on two different tracks. And I think the only place they might meet is the squeeze on general fund money. But we have not used general fund money for education for many years, and we didn't in the last few budgets. In fact, we used some of the income tax for higher education, which we changed a few years ago and allowed income tax to be used for higher education. So theoretically, they are not on a collision course. But obviously it appears that way to the public.

DAN BAMMES, KUER: When it comes to bonding and other issues, the Centennial Highway Fund- -

GOVERNOR WALKER: Bonding- -

DAN BAMMES, KUER: They do intersect.

GOVERNOR WALKER: The bonding, there may be a collision there, because we use bonding to build a lot of our highways. And obviously we've used bonding to build buildings, and higher education is an area where we use bonding. But public education building is a local consideration, so with public education, even there, there is not the collision course. Of course, the overall budget process has to be taken into consideration. So at some point there may be some adjustments. But currently they're on two different tracks, and two different funding sources.

ROD DECKER, KUTV: After a particularly bad fire year, I think it might have been 2001, no, it was before that, it was '99, maybe 2000, the federal government put up a lot of fire fighting money. Then we had years that weren't so bad, nonetheless the money got spent and the federal government was concerned about it and was talking about cutting back fire fighting money to the states. We look as if we may be having a hard summer this summer. Have you been paying attention, or have you been briefed or fire fighting possibilities, and what kind of shape are we in to meet fires should they come?

GOVERNOR WALKER: We have the fire fighting fund. Often we’ve had to add additional money. Fortunately last year we didn't, even though there was the potential for many fires. We were very lucky last year. I'm hoping we're that lucky this summer. It's hard to tell. We're in the sixth year of a drought, and the moisture in the ground and the trees are low, and they continue to get lower every year we have a drought. So we're a prime target for forest fires, and it’s hard to predict, because they predicted it would be a heavy year last year and we were quite fortunate. We did not have to add extra money. It depends on what happens this summer. The one year we did have to add, I believe, five or six million dollars to that fund, and it will just depend on what happens, the lightning strikes, the foolishness of humans when they build camp fires and throw out lighted cigarettes or matches. So it depends on people and nature.

JANICE PERRY GULLY, KCPW: Governor, several weeks ago the U.S. Department of Housing and, HUD, or urban development, cut back funding for public housing, section 8 public housing vouchers. In Salt Lake County alone, they said yesterday in a press conference, 250 families will basically become homeless as a result of this. What- - Are you aware of this? What are you doing about it? And is there a possibility of the state to come into the breach of those 1 million or so dollars that is a shortfall from the federal government?

GOVERNOR WALKER: I've been very aware of this for several years, because of the Olene Walker Housing Trust Fund. We have worked very hard to get local housing authorities to take over some of those section 8 housing projects that were funded 25 years ago by the federal government, because the vouchers they offered the residents of those facilities were so low that it was hard to find places for them. So we have really concentrated on the trust fund, the housing trust fund to purchase wherever we could the section 8 buildings, and we’ve accomplished that in many cases. So I'm very aware of the situation. We will continue to work with the county authorities and the city housing authorities to do what we can. We have a task force that is set up to look at those issues, and we will continue to look at both the housing and homeless issues in that task force.

JOSH LOFTIN, DESERET MORNING NEWS: You mentioned wilderness issues a little while ago.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Yes.

JOSH LOFTIN, DESERET MORNING NEWS: What's your take on the drilling that's going to happen in 9-Mile Canyon now that 9-Mile Canyon has been listed?

GOVERNOR WALKER: You know, that's basically a BLM responsibility on those leases. There were five oil and gas sites that we had questioned on when we went out and looked at them, there were mining operations between those and the vistas of where they were looking, so on those five we determined that they probably were okay to release. I'm planning on going out to 9-Mile Canyon in the near future, not only to look at those areas, but also to look at some areas they are doing major archeological work on in the Wilcox Ranch, and so I'm excited about going to both of those sites. We will continue to look at any of the leases that people have questions on.

DAN BAMMES, KUER: Back to your public lands initiative, your wilderness initiative you say you're meeting in St. George next month. Are you concerned now about the success of that, given the fact that your term will be over in seven months, what can you do in the time that you have to make that work?

GOVERNOR WALKER: We hope to have the progress, the county progress far enough along that some of those counties will continue to work irregardless of who is governor. I think that the candidates that are governor recognize the wilderness issue and how divisive it has been to the state of Utah for so many years, and I think that they would be very supportive of continuing the process if it's working. And we are going to work hard with Washington County, we're hoping to get it started in several other counties, and if progress is being made, I can't visualize that they would stop and go in a different direction.

RICH PIATT, KSL-TV: Governor, one more education question.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Yes.

RICH PIATT, KSL-TV: You took quite a hit on your position on tuition tax credits.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Yes.

RICH PIATT, KSL-TV: I'm wondering if you have any thoughts about why there are such strong feelings about this issue. Have people lost faith in the public education system?

GOVERNOR WALKER: I think there's always been a group, there, that have been very supportive of private schools, and I think that it's particularly dominant in the conservative Republican wing, and so I think that that became a stronger issue in the convention than perhaps it is in the general public. I think we have to realize that in Utah, 90 to 95 percent of our students will always be in public education. But I'm certainly cognizant of the fact that there's at least 5 to 10 percent that would prefer private schools, and as I said in the campaign, I'm willing to work with them on something that makes sense.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor, we have about a minute and a half remaining in our time together today. We're turning the corner towards summer, Memorial Day is just around the corner, and this summer you are pushing a reading initiative, so the summer months stay productive for public school children. Can you tell me about that and what you hope children will accomplish during the summer months?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Absolutely. Because if children don't read during the summer, they can lose as much as a year in reading skills. So we have sent some calendars to every private school, charter school, as well as the public schools, giving some fun activities for the students that, giving them incentives for reading at least 20 minutes a day. And those that accomplish that can send in a card to my office, we’ll get certificates, and there'll be drawings for prizes. And the whole goal is, it's important to keep reading so you retain those skills, so you're ready for the next year. In addition, someone has donated $1,000 for the school that has the greatest percentage of their students reading, completing that reading goal. So I'm excited about it. It's important that we don't lose those skills over the summer months, and this is a way to keep those students reading.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor, thank you for your time. That concludes our time for this news conference. A reminder, a transcript is available on line courtesy of the Utah Education Network at www.uen.org. Until next time, good night.

Return to home page