Voucher vote in November?

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said Friday he may order a special election on school vouchers this November, instead of February, if lawmakers agree to help local governments pay the additional costs of the statewide referendum.

The governor's proposal to move the election up three months surfaced as GOP legislative leaders insisted they are not going to revisit the voucher issue, and advised State Board of Education officials to think again about not implementing one of two voucher bills passed by the 2007 Legislature.

Huntsman had announced he wanted the election to consider repealing a voucher bill to be held at the same time as the state's presidential primary on Feb. 5, 2008, a date that would have to be approved by lawmakers in a special session.

Now, though, the governor said he may take the referendum "to the people sooner rather than later" — without a special session. Under the law, he can set a special election in either June or November without legislative action.

A November special election — and skipping a special legislative session — is just fine with House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy. "The public has asked for a vote. We need to get it to them," Curtis said.

Voucher supporters have said it is really of no consequence when the election is held since there is already a voucher law on the books. Only one of the two voucher bills lawmakers approved is subject to the repeal vote.

But Kim Burningham, chairman of the State Board of Education, said he would prefer it sooner than later so it would not be in the middle of the legislative session.

Before he decides, though, Huntsman said he wants a commitment that the 2008 Legislature will pick up local governments' share of the $3.5 million price tag for a statewide election. Curtis said just how much that would cost has yet to be calculated.

Curtis and Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, spoke on the voucher issue before the annual Taxes Now conference sponsored by the Utah Taxpayers Association in the Little America Hotel. Huntsman talked with reporters about vouchers after addressing the conference.

The legislative leaders said rumors that House and Senate GOP conservative legislators outfoxed their Democratic and moderate Republican colleagues by passing two voucher bills last session are not true.

In fact, Curtis, who last session played a major role in pushing for vouchers — which had failed six other times in the Legislature — said that anyone who believed that legislators knew beforehand how the voucher issue would play out is just perpetrating "a lie."