January 29, 2004

I'm very concerned about the privacy, and we worked hard when the GRAMA laws came out to make certain that when information was given, that the people were aware of it.

Reporters (in order of appearance):

KEN VERDOIA, KUED Channel 7
ROD DECKER, KUTV Channel 2
TOM JORDAN, Metro Networks
JERRY SPANGLER, Deseret News
CRAIG HISLOP, Utah Public Radio
KIRSTEN STEWART, Salt Lake Tribune
DAN BAMMES, KUER Radio

KEN VERDOIA, KUED Channel 7: Governor, thanks for joining us today. You asked for a moment at the outset of our news conference to make an opening statement.

GOVERNOR WALKER: I want everyone to know that tomorrow is the start of the Moscow-Utah Youth Games. The opening ceremonies will be at 6:30 at the Olympic Park by the Ute Stadium. We want everyone to show up and support our youth, and welcome the Moscow youth. There will be games throughout this area the following week. You can find those events- - Most of them are free. But you can find the times and place on the Governor's Web Site, and we hope that Utahns will turn out and participate in cheering for our Utah youth, but also welcoming the Moscow youth. Governor Luschcov--governor--Mayor Luschcov from Moscow will be here part of the time, and we certainly want to make him welcome.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED Channel 7: Governor, among the issues that are facing your office today, beyond the staging of these games, is one that was the subject of a published report in today's Deseret Morning News, and it documents the existence of a program in Utah to gather information on all of the state's residents, include a central database. This is under the auspices of homeland security. It was approved by former Governor Michael Leavitt some seven months ago. It apparently was kept under wraps, and among the vast majority of Utahns kept in the dark was Lieutenant Governor Olene Walker. What can you tell us about this so-called Matrix program, the secrecy surrounding the program, and its continued existence in the light of some public concern?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Certainly we're getting information on it. We will inform the public as soon as we've gathered information. From what we know it was a pilot program, working together with fourteen other states to enhance the law enforcement aspect of sharing information to help, to protect our country. Certainly it's something we need to look at, and we certainly want to get the information out to the public as soon as we've gathered that information, and we will do so.

ROD DECKER, KUTV Channel 2: Is it true that you didn't know about it? When did you first learn of the existence of it?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well, somebody, about 7:00 o'clock last night said, "Do you know about Matrix?" And I said, "Certainly. It was a movie, it was fast moving and a lot of action." But no, I did not know about it. Certainly I was aware they were doing things with homeland security, but I did not know the details of it.

ROD DECKER, KUTV Channel 2: Who is the state official who's in charge of it?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well, Verdi White has taken the lead in homeland security, and certainly he has information on it, and we are getting information on it. And apparently it was an effort to, not get new information on citizens, but to share information for law enforcement purposes with other states so that they could get the information faster. It was sort of the idea of the Amber alert.

ROD DECKER, KUTV Channel 2: When will Mr. White brief you?

GOVERNOR WALKER: We asked him to get all the information that he could today, and by later today we hope to have all the information on it. We will evaluate it and then determine what we should do about it.

ROD DECKER, KUTV Channel 2: Are you distressed that you weren't told before?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well, I think I shared a lot of the information and strategy with the governor, but certainly some of these administrative things I probably didn't know about. And this is one that I did not.

ROD DECKER, KUTV Channel 2: Administrative things. You sound as if this isn't or ought not to be a matter of concern to people that the state might be intruding on their privacy. Is that your attitude?

GOVERNOR WALKER: No. I'm very concerned about the privacy, and we worked hard when the GRAMA laws came out to make certain that when information was given, that the people were aware of it. So I'm very concerned about this, and I think privacy is an important issue, and we will certainly evaluate what should be done. At this point I need further details on how widespread it is. I am told that it didn't involve any financial support from the state of Utah, so it didn't go through the budgetary process, but it was a pilot program, obviously dealing with the need of homeland security. And I think it's obvious that in dealing with homeland security, there are a lot of issues, many of them have been discussed in the Patriot Act and similar issues. So this is something that we've got to be very concerned about.

TOM JORDAN, Metro Networks: So far as you know this is all publicly available information, though, right?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Right. Right. It's- - I am told that it is available, that the information will be given to the public, and I would certainly support that.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED Channel 7: Citing those privacy concerns, apparently a couple of states have opted out of the pilot program. Is that an option you might consider?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Definitely. All options are on the table.

ROD DECKER, KUTV Channel 2: If they didn't get the money in the regular way, where did they get the money?

GOVERNOR WALKER: I think- - As I understand it, Rod--and of course I haven't had a great deal of time to review it--as I understand, it was just a pooling of existing information and technology. That it didn't involve any additional money. Now, I want to verify that, I'll look at it today, and verify that. But I am told that was the case.

JERRY SPANGLER, Deseret News: Are you saying the federal money that comes to the state does not need to go through the legislature?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well, I- - No. We appropriate all federal money, and I am not certain- - I am told that there wasn't additional money in this pilot program. Now, I'll have to verify that. Certainly they've had money to create the existing database. This is not new information, it was sharing of the databases that the states already had. This is my understanding.

JERRY SPANGLER, Deseret News: I'm asking you, Governor, should the legislature have been involved in deciding if that money was to be sought and spent?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well, I think any money that comes in ought to be, go through the appropriation process. As I understand this project, there was no additional money looked at. It was just that we had already had the database for law enforcement purposes in the state, in our state. And every state has that database. The unique thing about it was the sharing of that database with fourteen other states. And this did not require additional money, as I have been told this morning. I will look into it further, and validate that, and certainly make some decisions when we have the full information.

DAN BAMMES, KUER Radio: Governor, Utah had five cases of medical neglect that went to court last year,

GOVERNOR WALKER: Right.

DAN BAMMES, KUER Radio: But there are approximately 40 bills in the Utah legislature that deal with this issue following up on the notoriety of the Parker Jensen case last year. This leads to two questions. First of all, do you feel that the way that medical neglect cases are handled in Utah needs reform? And second, do you see this issue as perhaps the Republican Party pandering to the ideological right?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well, we are monitoring those, we call them child welfare bills. There are over 50. We're monitoring those bills, our human service department are monitoring those bills, the A.G. office are monitoring, and I think the legislature is doing a good job of monitoring the bills. Quite frankly, there's a balance between parental rights and the child's rights. And we have to make certain that that balance is enforced in the law. There will always be questions of human judgment in applying those laws, and I don't know we'll ever reach a hundred percent perfection in applying those laws. Those case workers have some really tough decisions to make. And it would take more than the wisdom of Solomon to be a hundred percent correct every time. But I will look at those, any bills that come to my desk, and use the criteria. If it does more good than harm, I'll sign them.

DAN BAMMES, KUER Radio: Other than on the merits of the bills themselves, though, do you see this as a flagship issue that Republicans somehow have to get their tickets punched with before they can run for re-election?

GOVERNOR WALKER: It certainly appears to be an election year issue, because the number of bills are overwhelming. But so obviously it's on the forefront of the legislators' minds, and I think it's a result of being on the forefront of citizens' minds. So it's somewhat of a logical outcome from the Parker Jensen case. But certainly it's an election year, and some of those issues will appear in the legislative process.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor, let me jump in right now and redirect our questioning to Logan where we have a reporter standing by. In fact, it's Craig Hislop of Utah Public Radio. Craig?

CRAIG HISLOP, UTAH PUBLIC RADIO: Governor, I'd like to talk to you about the issue of voting, which you had a lot to do with, of course, as Lieutenant Governor, the house passing or approving a bill earlier this week that makes it a little easier to work with an absentee ballot. And I know that last summer you had had an interim committee consider the idea of multi-day voting. What, by the end of this session, do you think will be the future of this whole issue of voting?

GOVERNOR WALKER: It's certainly a bill that I supported, sort of as a step forward in allowing citizens to vote other than the required day. It may help those that are on shift work or have other obstacles in voting on that particular day. I feel that it's the first step in allowing more flexibility for the citizens to vote. And I certainly hope that it works in that direction, because quite frankly, we need to increase the number of citizens that vote, and we hope they're educated citizens.

TOM JORDAN, Metro Networks: Governor, on Monday House Majority Leader Greg Curtis said there was no chance that the Jones-Mascaro educational funding bill was going to pass. There doesn't seem to be a viable alternative. Does this worry you?

GOVERNOR WALKER: I think that they're in a process of determining what they're going to fund, and what the revenue sources are. I think that was one alternative for them. But it's only one of many. The revenue pictures will be far different when they make those decisions at the end of February than I had to formulate my budget in November. Because when I did my budget, revenues were absolutely flat, and in the last two reports from the tax commission we've seen increases, significant increases. So they'll have a different revenue picture to look at than I did. Does that mean there's plenty of money? No. I can guarantee you there are far more needs than revenue available. So they will have some very hard choices. It's a little early for them to be making those financial decisions. I assume they'll wait until the February tax commission report to put it all together. And we'll see what choices they make at that time.

KIRSTEN STEWART, Salt Lake Tribune: Governor, Workers Compensation Fund. An unfavorable IRS ruling has breathed new life into a new plan to privatize the fund, and you've stood opposed to that privatization scheme. Have you spoken with Idaho's insurance commissioner to find out if they buy off on the plan that the IRS did?

GOVERNOR WALKER: We had hoped that they would look at it, and perhaps say that it was favorable. I understand that they are sending a letter today that said that it does not answer their concerns. I'd rather wait until I see that letter to make a definite announcement, but I was told just as I was walking out the building that they had made a determination it does not meet their demands. So we'll have to revisit it.

ROD DECKER, KUTV Channel 2: Will you veto a plan that simply turns Utah Workers Compensation over to private enterprise without compensation to the state, without fair compensation to the state?

GOVERNOR WALKER: I've got see the bill first. But certainly I've stated my position. We have a very successful workers compensation plan now. I'm going to be very cautious about giving up that plan without something in place that makes sense for the future. I'm concerned about workers compensation for the employers in the future for Utah. And I'm certainly going to consider very carefully any plan that I felt would be detrimental to Utah employers.

DAN BAMMES, KUER Radio: Governor, you have been on record in the past as opposing tuition tax credits, but we have a bill in the legislature now, House Bill 115, that would take a somewhat different approach to this by providing state funding for students with special needs, scholarships so they can attend schools such as Carmen B. Pingree School for Children With Autism and other special programs. Do you support this bill, and do you see this as possibly opening the door for tuition tax credits for other students without special needs?

GOVERNOR WALKER: I'm looking at it very seriously. I have some concerns about who oversees the administration of the program. For one thing it guarantees health and safety requirements are met, but it doesn't specify as to who oversees that particular part. Another area I'm concerned about is access. Carmen Pingree School is on the cutting edge of helping autistic kids, and it's a remarkable private school. But there's limited access. There's one other school that deals with developmental disabilities in the state, Woodland Hills, and certainly perhaps they could take additional students. I understand they have 50 students. But that's very, very limited access in terms of the total state. And so we're going to have to look at some of those issues. There are additional issues I'm concerned about. But if those questions are answered, perhaps it's an answer for those with special needs. I haven't made a final determination, but I have let the legislature know the areas that I'm concerned about.

DAN BAMMES, KUER Radio: Does this set a precedent, though, for tuition tax credits in a broader scale?

GOVERNOR WALKER: It may be setting a tradition, but certainly it's a very, very limited category.

TOM JORDAN, Metro Networks: There's a bill, I guess Representative Dayton has a bill that would get, opt Utah out of No Child Left Behind, President Bush's program that requires extra attention for minority kids, non-English-speaking kids, kids with special needs. And she says that's just too much trouble, and some educators seem to agree with her. Seem to say, a third of Utah's schools, almost, have not made the initial, have not passed the initial test in that, and they seem to think this is something that's going give Utah a very hard time. Will you support getting out of No Child Left Behind, simply telling them to keep their money?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Quite frankly, I agree with Margaret Dayton's concept of, "Why is the federal government getting so involved in education, which has traditionally been a domain of local school districts and the state?" I'm concerned about that. However, I'm reviewing it very carefully. When the Undersecretary of Education was here, I talked to him about our major concerns and how it applies to a rural state. He agreed with us, that there were areas of concern for rural states. Several issues. And he assured me there would be a task force set up to discuss those issues and work them through. I called Washington and suggested they appoint Margaret Dayton to be a member of that task force, and so I'm hoping that we can work those issues out. Right at this point there's been a suggestion that if we opted out that we would lose all of our Title 1 funds, which would be $103 million. We cannot afford to lose that amount of money in our public education system. But I am willing to work with them to make certain that the requirements are something that the state of Utah can live with, and we will do everything we can to see that that happens.

TOM JORDAN, Metro Networks: Governor, earlier this week Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman delivered her State of the County address and noted that when she came into office three years ago she had imposed a hiring freeze, and over this last three years through attrition they've cut over 1,000 jobs from the county work force, which is serious money. Is there any possibility you could take that kind of line to streamline government and improve revenue?

GOVERNOR WALKER: In the last three years we have cut 10 percent out of the state budget. We have virtually imposed a hiring freeze because there simply has not been money there. In fact, we have decreased numbers in many departments. Certainly there are some areas that we've had to increase. The number of students increase, we've had to hire teachers, and we had to, under court jurisdiction, increase the number of case workers in the Division of Family and Children Services. But overall we've had major, major cuts in budget, which means we've had cuts in personnel too.

JERRY SPANGLER, Deseret News: Governor, yesterday you met with Republican leadership.

GOVERNOR WALKER: Yes.

JERRY SPANGLER, Deseret News: And the topic of your $40 million education- -

GOVERNOR WALKER: It's $30 million.

JERRY SPANGLER, Deseret News: $30 million, excuse me, education package was discussed. And they indicated they instructed you to prepare legislation that has accountability written into it, penalties for not spending the money correctly and some system of showing where that money goes. And they instructed you to prepare a bill. Are you going to do that? Are you going to meet their requirements about the accountability?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Our choice was to put it in the budget as intent language. We already had that prepared. We're taking that same information and preparing a bill so that they have the option to look at it in a bill. I don't care whether it's intent language or whether it's in a bill. But mainly we want to make certain that the school districts realize that this is money to be spent on reaching the goal that every child can read by the end of third grade. It isn't to be spent to replace programs that are already being funded by the school districts. And we want to make that very clear, whether it's intent language in the budget or whether it's in the form of a bill.

KIRSTEN STEWART, Salt Lake Tribune: Who's going to run the bill? Who will run the bill?

GOVERNOR WALKER: Well, James Brown has asked to run it, and I assume, since he's the first ask, that he will run the bill. We would ask that the leadership, though, work with him to make certain that it gets through the process.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED Channel 7: Governor, our state's age-old theoretical discussion of polygamy and plural marriage has taken on a bit of a sense of urgency in recent weeks with reports of internal dissent and struggle in the border towns of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hilldale, Utah. I know the Attorney General says he is on top of that situation. I wonder what you view as the concern in the current situation, and how do you view the role of state government in this issue?

GOVERNOR WALKER: We've asked public safety commissioner Bob Flowers to be on top of it, which he has been involved in it a great deal. We've asked our human services, Robin Arnold Williams, to be aware of it, and look at any services that we need to be ready to, prepared for in the southern part of the state to accommodate any influx of people needing help. Certainly it's a story that will be written about in novels. It seems to take on a different aspect almost daily. But we are monitoring it very closely and want to assist the people that we need to assist if that situation arises.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED Channel 7: They've been talking about an anticipated exodus, or waves of people. That has not materialized at this point.

GOVERNOR WALKER: That has not materialized at this point. We don't anticipate waves of individuals, but we want to be prepared to assist if we are needed in any of the areas that we've mentioned.

TOM JORDAN, Metro Networks: Governor, the state's biggest trade show is in town this week, the Outdoor Retailers. Are you pretty comfortable with your relations with them in terms of this show staying in the state?

GOVERNOR WALKER: You know, we have good relationships at the moment. We've worked hard on getting that task force set up. They asked us to wait until toward the end for the first meeting because they were so involved in the show. But we will be working with them. I will go to the show. I think we have the basis, there, that we can provide opportunities, both for preserving some of the quality outdoor recreational spots, but also work in a marketing program so that the world knows that Utah is the global headquarters for outdoor recreational opportunities. Certainly we've got to preserve those spots for the future. One of the questions that, on keeping the outdoor retailers here, is space. Already we have to go to tents. So we've got to look at that issue. It is very important that we keep them here. Between the winter and summer outdoor shows, they're the largest we have, and they bring a lot of money into our state. They help our economy. So we are willing to work with them in any way we can. With limits. I mean we can't- - Their needs for space will always be something that we'll have to weigh, because we can't have the convention center built solely for that, but we will work with the county in urging them to provide the space they need within reason.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED Channel 7: And Governor, on that note, we have run out of our allotted time for this edition of the Governor's Monthly News Conference on KUED. A reminder that a transcript of this and every news conference is available on line courtesy of the Utah Education Network that can be found at www.uen.org. Until our next meeting in February, thanks for joining us. Good night.

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