September 25, 2003

It's been like landing an airplane on an aircraft carrier. A very delicate operation to make certain on a budget that is well over seven and a half billion dollars, to land with a balanced budget.

Reporters (in order of appearance):

KEN VERDOIA, KUED
RICH PIATT, KSL-TV
CHRIS VANOCUR, KTVX
DAN HARRIE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
TOM JORDAN, METRO NETWORKS
AMY JOI BRYSON, DESERET NEWS
ROD DECKER, KUTV
SEAN MASTERSON, KSL-TV
LEE AUSTIN, UTAH PUBLIC RADIO

Transcript:

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor, thanks for joining us today. While your confirmation hearings this year, or this week, rather, to head the EPA gained much of the attention toward your office, I'm interested in starting a different direction. Just today fiscal year figures for last year have come into your office portraying the financial well-being of Utah. That seems to be a great consideration to many states. Where does Utah stand now with the fiscal year behind us?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well actually, Ken, it's good news. We have for several months, of course, been concerned about the budget. It's been like landing an airplane on an aircraft carrier. A very delicate operation to make certain on a budget that is well over seven and a half billion dollars, to land with a balanced budget. And I'm very pleased that we'll be announcing today later an $18.3 million surplus for the state. $18.3 million is serious money, but a budget as large as this one, that's a very narrow balance. But it's a plus and we're very pleased about it. The budget will reflect a 16 and a half million dollar surplus in the state's general fund and a 1.8 million dollar surplus in the uniform school fund. There are other details that we'll share with you, but I think the people of our state will be pleased to know that despite the difficult economic times, and the difficulties that states all over the country are having, we continue to be a well-managed state and a state that's balancing its budget, living within its means.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: With so many states in this nation battling red ink as you allude to, one might wonder how you best credit this. Is this economic recovery taking place, or is this just fiscal austerity?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well, we- - We're building on a foundation that's been built for decades in the state of good management. On five different occasions over the course of the last decade Utah has been judged by different publications and analysts as the best-managed state in America. We have a AAA bond rating, that comes because we follow sound principles of balancing our budget. This reflects substantial cutbacks, we're operating state budgets this year. Let me restate that. We are operating state government on a budget this year that will be fewer dollars than we did in the year 2000. So four years later and 150,000 people more, we've got roughly $150 million less. Now that doesn't come without some pain, and it doesn't come without some things being under-invested in. It doesn't mean that things are perfect. What it means is that we balanced our budget and have done it in a way that makes sense. And I feel great about it. I think the people of our state should feel confident.

RICH PIATT, KSL-TV: Governor, you have been working on the budget for a while, at the same time you've been dealing with the EPA confirmation hearings. Are you finding that preparing for the hearings, especially the request of some Democrats to respond in writing to some specific and a lot of questions, are you finding that that's taking away from running the state in any way?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: I don't lack things to do right now. I am focused, however, on the state's business. Tomorrow actually will be day 600 of our 1,000-day plan. You'll recall that in February of 2002, as the torch entered Utah, we started a 1,000-day process that we believe will continue to lead us toward economic recovery. We're, like all other states, working through this. I committed at the time that we embarked on the 1,000 days that every 200 days I would make a report. I will, this will be on our web site tomorrow on day 600. I'll mention to you that there are some new things that will be, you'll see tomorrow. I'll be meeting with the governor of Wyoming and we'll be working to develop an energy planning effort for transmission through the corridor from Wyoming, Utah, and ultimately into southern California. We think that's a very important part of our energy resources. I'm quite heavily involved in another part of the thousand-day plan, which is the holding of some energy, rather, some education summits. We've now had four of six, the last ones will be next week, one in Cedar City, one in Moab. These have actually been extraordinarily good efforts. The one in Salt Lake, for example, had nearly 350 educators. They were teachers, they were superintendents, legislators, they were school board members, all talking about how we move from a system that simply manages time to one that manages, or that measures, rather, the amount that students learn. So there's a lot happening. We're now at day 600 of day 1,000, and I continue to focus on that.

CHRIS VANOCUR, KTVX: Well Governor, if no one else is going to ask about the Senate confirmation hearing, I will. Senator Bennett says he believes that your nomination will be confirmed by the full Senate by mid-October or late October. Do you think that's a reasonable expectation?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: I have been hesitant to establish any time lines. I'm working to be the best governor of Utah I can, and as I said, day before yesterday, I have, I'll continue to do so until the Senate confirms me. At that time I've indicated that I would serve the President in that way. I 'm optimistic, but I recognize there's very little at this point I control. All I can control is what I do today and tomorrow.

CHRIS VANOCUR, KTVX: Let me do my bad impression of California's Senator Barbara Boxer and try and dig a little deeper. I'm curious, if some of these Democratic holds do stretch out your nomination, say it's January or February, would there be a cutoff date for you where you might consider withdrawing your name if this drags out too long?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: That's not a speculation I've entered into in my mind, let alone in a news conference. I feel optimistic that the process will play out in a way that's productive. I have made visits to members of the Senate, and they've been very generous with their time and in their expressions of support. I'll do some more of that between now and a couple of weeks from now. This is now something that the White House needs to work on with members of the Senate who are raising issues that are related mostly to conversations that they've been having on various matters.

DAN HARRIE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Governor, do you think there's any argument that maybe it would be best to resign now, instead of letting this maybe happen in the middle of a legislative session or some other occurrence? And let your apparent successor, you know, start running the state? Is there any argument for that at all?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: I don't see any need. And for that matter, any argument that would make it a rational suggestion. Because we're working together, as we always do, we're preparing the budget. It has caused that I'm putting a few more hours in, but I don't mind that. And I'll be ready to put a budget forward on time, it'll be a balanced budget, it'll be a far-reaching budget. If I'm not there to make it, it will reflect the Lieutenant Governor and my thinking. It will reflect the thousand-day plan, it will be on course, and I think it will move the state forward.

TOM JORDAN, METRO NETWORKS: Governor, given the way the Democrats are piling it on at the moment you might be governor for a while longer. Do you find any urge to use your enormous popularity to go and lobby some particular issue where you could actually make a sort of a final flourish? Obviously something like the guns in schools and churches issue. Any thought about wanting to push some last final issue?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Tom, I love being governor. I've enjoyed and continue to enjoy every day. And whether it's 40 or 400 days that I continue to serve in this role, I'm going to push from the day, the moment I get up until the moment I go to sleep. I've done that for I don't know how many days, probably close to 5,000. But there's a certain complication that comes about when you're in this situation, but we're working through it. My staff's been remarkable. We've had to develop a little transition module that is, that we can activate at any time. We're ready if that comes. If it doesn't, I enjoy being governor, and I have lots of plans that need to be carried out in the next 400 days.

AMY JOI BRYSON, DESERET NEWS: Governor, what is that transition model? What happens if the confirmation comes through? What happens back here at home?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Should the Senate confirm me, it would trigger a series of events that we have planned that would likely take about a week. There would be some wrap-up that I need to do. There will be some windup that the now lieutenant governor would need to do, there would be a ceremony and transition of power, and the state would move forward as it is today.

ROD DECKER, KUTV: The Jensen family has scheduled a news conference today to talk about treatment for twelve-year-old Parker Jensen. As I understand it, you sent Richard Anderson as a "personal emissary" might not be quite the right word, but almost something like that, to see what could be negotiated. Have you been paying attention? Do you have a view to the future on the Parker Jensen case?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: I've been kept abreast of this as events have unfolded. I understand the Jensen family will have later some information about the medical exam that's occurred. I will just observe this, that I think Parker Jensen has parents that are quite well informed, and it's clear to me, and I think the public, that they're loving, caring parents, and that there are difficult decisions to be made. And when you have loving, caring parents who are well informed, making difficult decisions, I think you need to move very slowly before you get the state involved in the middle of those. Now, there are still facts to play out, and I'm not here to make any delineating statements other than just to say that I think that this is a circumstance where the state needs to be very cautious before it would exercise any kind of intervention that would interrupt caring, loving parents making the best decision they could in a complicated and unclear situation.

ROD DECKER, KUTV: The lawyers who represent the state say that there have been a number of competent doctors who have diagnosed deadly cancer, and that the best medical knowledge is that Parker should have chemotherapy. They persuaded a judge of that. As a matter of principle, there are some Utahns who say caring, loving parents ought to be able to make the final decision. The state has been arguing no, medical science as interpreted through the courts should be the final arbiter. Do you have a position on that principle?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well, we do have a system that is in place and functioning. The courts, if there's a decision to be made, will be the place where that should be made. I've offered the only guidance today that I will, and that is that if caring, loving parents are in place and that they're well informed, that that ought to be to be respected. Now, there may be circumstances that play out here that I'm not aware of, or that will come to light in the future. I know of none, but we have to take this a day at a time and see how it goes. And there will obviously be, there could be action in the court, and if that's the case then the state will have to follow whatever the court ultimately rules.

SEAN MASTERSON, KSL-RADIO: Governor, there's smoke all around, there's a fire that's out of control down in Wasatch County. A controlled burn is what it started out as. Obviously now it's out of control. Your thoughts on this and controlled burns and what direction do we take on this, and who do we blame if there's such a thing?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well, every fire is regrettable and unfortunate, and they all have their beginning point. Very few of them are intended to start. Sometimes they're accidents, sometimes there are conditions that change, sometimes it's the unexpected, sometimes it's lightning. This one appears to have been a controlled burn that, where the protocols did not anticipate some kind of weather change. I don't know any more than that. Other than they have just under 300 firefighters on the scene now, they have, I think, four helicopters, large crews. It's a high priority. I do know that the forest service takes responsibility for what's occurred, and that they're both leading the effort to get it out and will be compensating the state and private property owners for any damage that's done. I am also aware that the state health department has indicated that the air is unsafe right now. Particularly in Utah County. And those who have to navigate ought to do so carefully, those who have health conditions ought to do what is best for them and consult with their physician if necessary. People should refrain from exercising in it. The particulate matter that comes from fires can be dangerous to people, so we are doing our best to get information into the hands of the public and recognize that they'll do their best to act on it.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor, we'll turn our attention now to Logan and a question from Lee Austin. Lee? I may be correct in assuming that we cannot hear Lee Austin. At least we cannot in this studio. So given that the case while we work on that audio difficulty, Governor, let me redirect the question. The people that have indicated from the United States Senate who are from the Democratic Party that they might seek to hold your nomination up for a period of time do not question you, they do not say that this is about Mike Leavitt. They say this is about something else. The Bush administration's record on the environment in their first years in office. You've been called, therefore, to rise in defense of that record at times. Do you feel comfortable defending the Bush administration record on the environment to this point in time? If so, state it for me.

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: I have indicated publicly, did in the hearing, that the President of the United States has my full confidence and my complete loyalty. I reflected in the hearing on what I believe loyalty to be. I have a cabinet. For the last eleven years I've had a wonderful working relationship with fourteen people that have served the state well. I have always told them that I view loyalty to be, one, run the department as best you can according to the best judgments that you can render, because 99 percent of the things that come to the department, the governor won't see.

Second, there are times when issues that come to one department will have bearing on another, or on some other broad range of society. And in circumstances like that I expect them to be sensitive to that fact, and to elevate that to a larger discussion.

The third point is that when that happens, I expect that they will collaborate with other people and come up with the right answer. And then I expect them to tell me exactly what they personally believe. There are times that happens in public, there are times that it happens privately with me. Both are expressions I appreciate and value.

And lastly, I expect them to remember that I was elected governor. And that the people hold me accountable, and that ultimately I'm the one who will have to go to the people and account for my actions. That's the relationship I expect to have with George Bush. He will, he can expect that I will do the best I can to manage the Environmental Protection Agency. He can expect that I will recognize, I hope, when moments when things need to elevate. And frankly, there are a lot of them that happen in environmental protection, because it touches so many aspects of our world and our economy. And I will be a collaborator within the structure of the executive branch, but the president will always know where I stand, and he'll know my best judgment, and then the president will be accountable for what's happening in his government. Now, I feel comfortable with that position, and I know he feels comfortable with that position. He obviously has confidence in me or he wouldn't have nominated me. I'm gratified by that, and what he can expect is the very best I can, both in judgment and in deed.

DAN HARRIE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Did you ever see yourself, Governor, departing from the president, though, publicly? Or would that always be in a private situation where you're advising him privately? Could you see yourself publicly challenging the president's view on environmental issues?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Dan, I think I answered that question as best I can. There are- - This is a new relationship for me, in that I've been in the position of being accountable directly to the voters. And I have done so in a way I feel good about, and the voters seem to feel good about. And at this point, if I'm confirmed by the Senate, I will do my best to run the agency, I'll do what I think is right in terms of elevating issues, I will be an advocate for my view, I'll let the president know how I feel, and do my best to make certain that he has the best available information, and the support of the Environmental Protection Agency.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Before we afford you a second chance to truly comment on the track record of the Bush administration on environmental protection, we will turn for a second chance to Logan and another opportunity for Lee Austin. Lee?

LEE AUSTIN, UTAH PUBLIC RADIO: Thanks for being persistent. Governor, earlier you reiterated how much you love the job of being governor of Utah, and you want to stay in until that one-week period when the transition will begin upon Senate confirmation. And I know you were asked this at the hearing, and people still have a hard time understanding why you would give up this job that you love so much to take a job that most people think is problematic, and perhaps not terribly satisfying or as influential, certainly, as you can be as governor of Utah. Could you restate that again, for those who didn't see it at the hearing?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Lee, I had a few friends say to me, "What were you thinking?" I'll tell you what I was thinking. What I'm thinking today. This is a place that has a broad impact on many, many aspects of the world. It's at the heart of economic policy. And I believe that the United States deserves a clean, a healthy, and a safe place to live. I think that's a very positive contribution a person could make. I think I could make a contribution to the way environmental debates are conducted in this country. It's clear to me that the United States has a role, a role in the world to be a convener among nations. I think that that's another area that the president would like the head of the Environmental Protection Agency to play a role. There's a lot to be done here. The president asked me to do this, and that's an important part of it. And when the President of the United States asks that you play a role, you have a serious need to consider it. I obviously thought about where could I contribute the most? We do have 400 days left in the thousand-day plan. I think we're well ahead of schedule, and in some cases under budget in perfecting that, and on balance I felt this was the right thing to do, and I still do. If the Senate confirms me I will happily go and do my best.

CHRIS VANOCUR, KTVX: Governor, at that hearing, Senator Baucus from Montana gave you a general warning about the difference between Washington and running a state. Maybe even on a personal or reflective level can you explain to viewers how politics is played there versus how it's played here and elsewhere?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well, politics is a rough and tumble game at times, particularly in election years. But it's been that way for 227 years since the country was founded, and for centuries before that in different schemes of government. Politics is human nature. Whenever there's a decision that reflects on the lives of millions of people it tends energize lots of different voices and in different ways. What I hope I bring, what I hope I bring is a leveling voice. I hope I bring experience that, in governance, and I hope I can bring, I hope can I make common sense common practice. Now, I don't have any illusions about the difficulty of what's in front of me. There are challenges in front of the state. But good, able people need to step forward and do their best to accomplish it. I've offered myself during the last eleven years to do that. The president's asked that I accept the nomination to run the Environmental Protection Agency. I'm prepared to give it my best. That's all anyone can expect. Do I think I'll solve every problem? No. Do I think there'll be some rough, bumpy paths along the way? Of course there will be. But this is a great country, and it depends on people being willing to do their part. And if this is my part, this is what I'll do.

RICH PIATT, KSL-TV: Governor, right now there's a news conference going on, some local people concerned about diesel emissions and construction equipment and whatnot, rather one of many issues the EPA could be dealing with in the future I suppose. But should Utahns feel they have a leg up, a special ear with you when they have concerns if you are administrator of EPA?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well, the diesel issue is one that the administration and the Congress and the EPA have worked on, and that there's a rule that will be issued sometime next year. For that reason my ability to comment on it is limited. I think what you have asked is, does your perspective change once you begin a responsibility that has a sense of relevance across 50 states, as opposed to just one. And the answer to that is yes, it has to change. And it will change. Will Utah always be my home? Yes. But my responsibility, if I am confirmed, is to serve the United States as a whole, and that I will do.

ROD DECKER, KUTV: In last year's budget you fought to postpone water projects, and to get tax\subsidies out of water. Since then you've convened a panel, largely of water men, and they said no, no, no, these taxes are good for us. Or these tax subsidies are good for us. In your coming budget do you still plan to fight to get taxes, to get tax subsidies out of water use in Utah, or have you been persuaded by your panel?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Let me make clear my view. First, we need more water money. We've got lots of need for the renovation of systems. I still believe passionately that it's better for rate payers to pay than taxpayers. That's still my philosophy. What my budget will reflect has not yet been decided, but no one has changed my mind on those basic points.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor, we have one minute remaining in this news conference, and I want to return to the topic I introduced earlier. You've been asked on many occasions to assess your view of the Bush record on environmental protection in its first two and a half years in office. Generally how do you view this administration in protecting the environment?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: I accepted the President's nomination because of his commitment to increase the velocity of environmental progress in this country, and to do it in a way that would not affect our economic competitiveness. His commitment is real, and I would join him with full commitment to that end.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Now, with all that may be uncertain in the confirmation process, the one any that is certain is the Governor's Monthly News Conference will return next month for another edition. We invite you to join us at that time. Until then, remember that a transcript of each and every news conference is available on line, courtesy of the Utah Education Network at www.uen.org. Until then, thank you for joining us. Thank you, Governor, and good night.

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