April 29, 2004

I was concerned because I think more effort was put on getting sufficient votes, rather than looking at the bills and really giving an in-depth look at some of the problems that I had pointed out to them in the various bills.

Reporters (in order of appearance):

KEN VERDOIA, KUED
RICH PIATT, KSL-TV
DAN HARRIE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
JANICE PERRY GULLY, KCPW
LEE AUSTIN, UTAH PUBLIC RADIO
JERRY SPANGLER, DESERET MORNING NEWS

Transcript:

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor Walker, thanks for joining us today.

GOVERNOR WALKER: It's a pleasure.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: In the wake of this week's legislative veto override session you rather sharply rebuked some legislators for putting an emphasis on what appeared to be internal party politics over the interests of the state, citing the session's proximity and message just days before the Republican State Party Convention.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Right.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Would you address those concerns and the way you perceived them as leaving an imprint on the process of government?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well, I had concerns, because normally an override session they'll get the votes in, and the override session is held within a week. This went on over a month. I was concerned because I think more effort was put on getting sufficient votes, rather than looking at the bills and really giving an in-depth look at some of the problems that I had pointed out to them in the various bills. I think they kept shifting from bill to bill to bill to see if they could get the votes, rather than concentrating on good laws. So I had some serious concerns.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Was it more about the bills, or did you feel at times it was more about you?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well, I think it's a campaign season, and I think apparently that that had a factor in the override session.

RICH PIATT, KSL-TV: Governor, regarding your reaction to the override session...

GOVERNOR WALKER: Yes.

RICH PIATT, KSL-TV: Prior to that, you had said that you don't take it personally. Yet the day that it happened, it appeared that you did take it personally, and that it did bother you. Which is it? Do you take it personally or not?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well, as a personal affront to me, no. But I did take it that it was far more about the campaign and politicking than developing good laws for the citizens of Utah.

RICH PIATT, KSL-TV: But aren't you afraid that your, what some call an emotional reaction to this, could potentially hurt you? Wouldn't it have been better to downplay it?

GOVERNOR WALKER: You know, I'm pretty easy to get along with. I very seldom get upset. In fact I had two grandchildren call me and said, "Grandma, that's the first time I've ever seen you upset." But there's a point. There's a point where the citizens ought to understand that the process became more about campaigning and politics than about really the discussion of good laws. And that is a great concern of mine.

RICH PIATT, KSL-TV: But at the same time this isn't new to you. You're familiar with how the process works.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Yes.

RICH PIATT, KSL-TV: Aren't you afraid that you could be punished for that kind of reaction, or showing that kind of emotion?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well, I think the public and the legislature needs to know that I'm normally very easily, I'm easy to get along with, but there comes a point when behavior is such that I'm willing to stand up and say, "enough."

RICH PIATT, KSL-TV: You said that you weren't going to be cowered. Was there an attempt to try to cower you or your staff in this process?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well, one of my staff was told that, and I've repeated this, that I'd better not get involved in stating that there was twisting arms going on or they'd make life miserable for me before the convention. Other people were there, and I think it was done in the heat of the moment, and so it's unfortunate that it's become such a big issue. But I think- - I don't think that's behavior that is in the best interest of the citizens of the state of Utah. And I think that individuals ought to be aware that that is not acceptable in our political arena. And so I felt that it was important that we call a halt to it.

RICH PIATT, KSL-TV: Are you concerned that the way this override session went, that the political machine is working against you, for whatever reason? The fact that you're a woman, the first female governor, someone with your political experience, shall we say?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well, I'm honored that I'm a candidate. I've been honored that I'm a governor. I'm very pleased that I have 81 percent general population approval. I'm very happy about that. I think that I have a very tough campaign in getting out of the Republican Convention. I know that there are a lot of factors involved in that. And I'm working as hard as I can. I have to be a good governor first, but I'm spending many hours in the evenings, Saturdays, and every moment I can of putting forth the best campaign I can.

I hope, I hope that I emerge from the convention. I hope that I can get the delegates to understand my vision for the state of Utah, that we've had a remarkable five months that I've been governor, that we've had job growth, 4,200 new jobs, which is above the rate that I said we had to sustain for ten years, which is remarkable. I've worked hard on getting venture capital companies here. I've worked hard on a new direction for education, focusing in on children mastering the basic skills. I hope the delegates look at what we've accomplished in five months of my administration, and certainly look at the vision I can bring to Utah when they make that vote.

DAN HARRIE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Governor, you mentioned a threat to a member of your staff. Would you identify who that threat came from, please?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well, I think I have, and I think that now's the time for healing, and moving on. Again, I've said, I understand it was in the heat of the moment.

DAN HARRIE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Was that house majority leader Greg Curtis?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Yes.

DAN HARRIE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Do you have any concerns- - This appears to be the fellow who is going to be the next house speaker, likely. Do you have concerns that a relationship between the highest-placed house member and yourself is that rocky?

GOVERNOR WALKER: No, I'm very willing to sit down and work through our differences. We've had a good relationship in the past, we will have a good relationship in the future. I understand Marty Stevens came over to my office. I'd already left for a delegate meeting, and it was unfortunate that I didn't get a chance to meet with him, but as soon as the press conference was over I was late for a delegate meeting, so I'd already left my office when he arrived. But I'm very willing to sit down with both of those individuals and move on in the interest of good government for the citizens of the state.

DAN HARRIE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Do you think, in the end, what happened with the veto override session helps or hurts you with the delegates?

GOVERNOR WALKER: I'm hoping that they look at it objectively. I hope they understand that that's part of the legislative process, and that I was looking at what was good for the citizens of the state of Utah. We'll know more about that on May 8th.

JANICE PERRY GULLY, KCPW: Governor, the Bush administration has started moving toward re-energizing the nuclear program, creating a new generation of nuclear weapons, so-called bunker buster missiles, nuclear tipped. And Congressman Matheson is very concerned that that's going to cause a resurgence of nuclear testing at the Nevada test range. He said that's become his number one priority in congress. Is that on your radar? If it is, what have you done about that?

GOVERNOR WALKER: It's certainly on my radar, radar screen. I think my position on nuclear waste is very clear. I don't want any hotter nuclear waste brought into Utah, and I certainly don't want it in the skies above us. So I'm very strong on that issue.

JANICE PERRY GULLY, KCPW: What have you done? Have you taken any steps? Have you contacted the administration?

GOVERNOR WALKER: We've- - I've talked to some of the congressional people on it. I've talked to some people in Washington. I have not contacted the White House because at this point it seems to have not risen to that level.

JANICE PERRY GULLY, KCPW: As I understand it congress has appropriated money last year to begin work on those missiles.

GOVERNOR WALKER: I understand that, but, and I will continue to confer with our congressional delegation. I have strong concerns about it.

DAN HARRIE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Our congressional delegation actually voted for the initial funding for that.

GOVERNOR WALKER: And I understand that. But we've just got to review it and make certain that the air and water does not affect Utah. And I will work very hard to see that does not happen. I think the plans are still in the infancy, so it's hard to make specific comments on it at this point, but it's certainly on my radar list, and it's certainly something that I will take a strong stand on, as I did against the Fernauld nuclear waste.

DAN HARRIE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Did you try to persuade the congressional members at all to vote against that the next time it comes up?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Not at that time.

TOM JORDAN, METRO NETWORKS: Governor, the Utah Foundation did poll of the state and found that, of course, education is a top priority. Obviously the legislature did not do anything significant in the way of dealing with long-term problems. Assuming you're back for the next session when you get through this convention, are you going to be turning your attention back to trying to find long-term solutions on educational funding?

GOVERNOR WALKER: I think I looked at long-term education funding. I think I put forth the first step of saying, number one, we've got to focus on each individual child mastering the basic skills. That started with reading, because that's the most essential basic skill. And I worked hard, as you know, to get funding, not only in the education arena, but I've worked hard on a public community program to let parents and grandparents and mayors and chambers of commerce and service groups to all understand, we could change education more simply by the slogan, "The most important 20 minutes of your day--reading with a child." And I can guarantee you if that happens we will change education in Utah.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor, I'm sorry, I have to jump in right now because I have the opportunity for our interactive capacity here at the news conference to turn to Logan, our site at Utah State University, and a question from Lee Austin with Utah Public Radio. Lee?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Hello, Lee.

LEE AUSTIN, UTAH PUBLIC RADIO: Thank you, hi. Governor, could I have you talk a little bit more about how you are working to get delegate support at the state convention? The assumption generally is that this is a more conservative group than the general electorate. Are you pointing to your newspaper polls? Are you making statements to show that, in fact, you are conservative enough for those delegates? Can you just give me some more information on how you're working on the convention?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Right. Well I'm trying to talk to as many delegates as I can. We're having as many delegate meetings as my schedule allows. I'm very conservative fiscally. If you look at my record, I was the one that initiated the rainy day fund. Why? Because I quickly determined when I was in the legislature that every time revenues go down, that's when we increase taxes. And so like any good family planning, I knew that we needed a reserve. It took me two years to get that through, but that rainy day fund was one of the critical factors that helped us get through the last three years without raising taxes. I think that's important.

If you look at my budget, I had three priorities, and the fiscal point often got overlooked. I cut bonding from $416 million in this year's budget down to $162 million in my proposal. And the legislature, I think it set a benchmark for the legislature. I also cut the one-time money on ongoing programs in half. Now, the legislature didn't do quite as well as I did. I think they ended up with $39 million one-time money on ongoing programs. And finally, I put $25 million in the rainy day fund. Now they put fourteen, so they got a little over half way there. But I'm very fiscally conservative.

I think I'm termed a moderate because I've worked in a lot of programs that deal with people. I've had a focus on education. I've chaired the homeless committee. I have an affordable housing trust fund named after me. I've worked on reducing welfare, I've worked on health care issues. And so I think the term that President Bush initiated, "a compassionate conservative," probably describes my politics very well.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: And Governor Walker, Lee Austin has asked for an opportunity for a follow-up, so we'll go back to you, Lee.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Yes.

LEE AUSTIN, UTAH PUBLIC RADIO: Have you pointed out to delegates where you're doing in the newspaper poll, and the way they vote is kind of interesting. Have you told some of them, "If you can't support me as your first choice put me down as your second choice"?

GOVERNOR WALKER: I tell them that every day. Of course I want them to select me as the first choice. It's very clear from the polls, the Deseret News Dan Jones poll that I'm the candidate that can win in November. I think the statistics happen to be that I would have a 55 percent compared to a 35 percent for the Democrat in November. I point that out consistently.

I try to tell them I'll do very well in the primary and general election because of the 81 percent approval rating. I think that I- - Some of them say, "We want change." I tell them change occurred in November when I became governor. And I've put forth a lot of projects that benefit the citizens of the state. I'm trying to get my message out that I'm a strong Republican. I co-authored the Republican platform. And I've worked hard on Republican principles, and so I'm trying to get that story to the delegates.

RICH PIATT, KSL-TV: At the same time, Governor, there are a lot of conservative delegates who are very- - still very upset about your position on the Carson Smith tuition tax credit bill.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Right.

RICH PIATT, KSL-TV: They call this parental choice in education. This is a big issue to them. Are you getting a sense for how large that will play in the convention, and how tough it's going to be for you on that day?

GOVERNOR WALKER: I think it's going to be very tough. I've explained, and I mean this, very sincerely. I've told them that I will look at any tax tuition plan or any voucher that makes sense for the state of Utah. And I've said that very loud and clear. I'm hoping the message gets there. I am willing to look at any plan that makes sense.

RICH PIATT, KSL-TV: But they seem kind of uncompromising about that.

GOVERNOR WALKER: I think that's true. Again, I've explained Carson Smith many times. No one cares about those kids more than I have. I can guarantee you I'm the candidate that has visited Carmen Pingree School more than any other candidate. I met with Carmen and John Pingree, I met with the administration. I had an opinion from the attorney general's office that Carson Smith had Constitutional questions. I put that all together. We found out, it solved the Constitutional problems, the administrators of the two schools that exist in Utah both agreed that it would save administrative costs because dealing with one contract is easier than 250.

It provided a way for, in our budgeting system, for future funding without additional bills. It contained one-time money for three-year scholarships, which would have had to be adjusted in the future. Under my plan it can just be funded as a line item. So it solved a lot of problems, and I think that's the reason that I did what I thought was right. Did I understand there might be political consequences? Yes. But I think a governor has to do what's right, and when you can find a better way to handle the situation, irregardless of political consequences, I think you have to follow that. But I am willing to look at any tax tuition plan or any voucher plan.

DAN HARRIE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Governor, another subject that's been sensitive among conservatives, and on the other side environmentalists, is wilderness. You're planning some sort of a wilderness summit involving Washington County and southern Utah, and that will be almost on the eve of the convention.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Right.

DAN HARRIE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Isn't that a bit risky to start wading into that quagmire right before the convention?

GOVERNOR WALKER: You know, we will announce it on Monday, but we have been working on this for almost since I became governor. We've met with all the counties, not once, not twice, but I think three times. We've met with many of them individually. This isn't something new. It's something that we've been working on for a long time.

JERRY SPANGLER, DESERET MORNING NEWS: How is the political landscape different now? I mean Governor Leavitt tried this for eleven years and said it was his most frustrating issue that he ever dealt with, and he could not resolve it. Why is it different now?

GOVERNOR WALKER: I think we're approaching it from a whole different point of view. Always before we've had a plan, either at the federal level or at the state level, that has been imposed on the counties. And generally it hasn't worked because they haven't accepted it. What we've done- - We're going to announce this on Monday so I won't spoil it all, but basically we have worked from the ground up. And that's the difference. We decided that if it's ever going to be done, we're going to have to work from the bottom-up.

DAN HARRIE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Do you have any kind of buy-in, though, from the environmental side?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Yes.

DAN HARRIE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: You talked about meeting with the counties multiple times. Have you done the same thing with the environmental community?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Yes. We've worked with the counties, we've worked with the environmentalists.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor, another issue that has increasingly brought itself to the fore in this election season, and probably tied somewhat to the last legislative general session, is the issue of the state's response and the federal government's response to people entering this country illegally.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Yes.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Latest reports of this week indicate that the number of arrests and the number of people crossing are both up over 50 percent compared to last year, near-record numbers, and many of those people, in fact, tens of thousands of them are now settling in the state of Utah looking for economic opportunities, and work opportunities. Is the state of Utah responding adequately? Do you believe the federal government is responding adequately to the issue of undocumented or illegal immigration?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Certainly it's a federal problem, both the policy, the law, and the enforcement. And so we have to look to the federal government in those areas. In fact, if we run into an illegal immigrant, the law enforcement has to call the immigration service to handle it. And so we need to work very closely with the federal government to solve the issue. I don't think anyone wants Utah to become a gateway for illegal immigrants. And overall we're a country of laws, and so if we're not going to enforce the law, we perhaps ought to look to the law, because I think it's important, both at the state level and the federal level, that we have laws that are enforceable.

I'm very willing to re-examine the fact that we have- - give illegal immigrants drivers licenses. Law enforcement supports that, because they have a photo, an address, and supposedly insurance and at least a minimum of driving ability. But I've heard many people say they felt that that was the reason that we may become a gateway for illegal immigrants, and so we need to review that policy.

TOM JORDAN, METRO NETWORKS: The high price of gas is putting the squeeze on an awful lot of state businesses. Is there any actual planning going on at the moment for how to deal with a potential economic slowdown that may negatively affect consumers as well as the state budget?

GOVERNOR WALKER: We're always concerned about any increase of gasoline or any commodity. But actually, I don't think that the state has the ability to control the price of gas, nor do I want them to. I don't want the state to get involved in the free market process. We can work with the political situation.

You know, this isn't a state issue, it isn't even a national issue. It's a global issue, because so much of that resource is controlled in the middle east by the OPEC countries. So this is an issue that we can talk about, that we can explore different avenues, but it is a national issue.

I have called together the energy people in the state, because I'm concerned about that we're doing everything that we can to keep the price of fuel down in Utah. The fact that we have refineries in Utah is an asset. I'm afraid if we didn't have them that gasoline might even be higher. But we need to make certain that we have the pipeline capacity to get the gas to the refineries, and we need to continue to work with the corporations, as well as the individuals that are working on those issues to make certain that we keep the gas prices as low as possible.

JANICE PERRY GULLY, KCPW: Governor, speaking of global issues.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Yes.

JANICE PERRY GULLY, KCPW: One of the biggest controversies in this country is the outsourcing of jobs.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Yes.

JANICE PERRY GULLY, KCPW: To other countries. There are a lot of high-tech workers in the state who can't find a job.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Right.

JANICE PERRY GULLY, KCPW: And is there anything the state can do to encourage companies in Utah to hire here, you know, to keep their work force here rather than to outsource?

GOVERNOR WALKER: I think our basic policy is to look to Utah first, if the prices are comparable on any bid. The one agency that had an outsourcing that is now in India, when they let that contract, I think they only had two major bids, both of them here in the United States, and after that contract was let they moved to India. I would prefer to keep it, number one, in Utah, but I don't think we can build up walls and say, "We're going to take the Utah price, irregardless of companies," because of the fact that we probably do- - Well, I know we do more business with other states who outsource to Utah than we outsource to other states. So it's an economic factor that we don't want to build walls, but we want to, if all being equal we go to Utah.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor Walker, interest remains, time does not. Thank you very much for your time today. A reminder that a transcript and a video streaming of this news conference is available on line courtesy of the Utah Education Network at www.uen.org. Until next time, thanks and good night.

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