Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and top public education officials agreed Friday to ask Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to call a summer special legislative session to clear up the mess over which of two private school voucher bills may take effect this year.

Shurtleff said a special session would either repeal one of the voucher bills or reconcile the two bills so voters would have a clear choice at the ballot box. One of the voucher bills is up for a referendum vote tentatively set for Nov. 6.

But it is uncertain whether GOP legislative leaders or Huntsman favor calling a special session and putting the highly controversial voucher issue once again before the 104 part-time lawmakers.

"The biggest concern I have is people don't know what they're voting for," Shurtleff said after meeting with state education leaders Friday. "I'm coming to recommend that there be a special session to fix it."

He said he explained to education bosses that while Huntsman may be willing to call a special session on the voucher laws, the governor wouldn't do it if the Legislature won't act on them.

"The biggest task is to get (Senate President) John Valentine and (House Speaker) Greg Curtis to agree to a special session," Shurtleff said.

Huntsman spokesman Mike Mower quoted the governor as saying: "We all have some work to do on (vouchers). The status quo is confusing and unacceptable." Mower wouldn't speculate on a special session call.

A Capitol Hill source, asking not to be identified but close to the behind-the-scenes debate, said: "We are moving closer and closer to a special session" even if that is not favored by many pro-voucher, GOP legislators.

Curtis said that he doesn't see the need for a special session. "It's a simple process. If you gather enough signatures, you call an election. That election is five-and-a-half months away. We are all comfortable with that.

"The law doesn't say if you have a referendum you call a special (legislative) session. It says you have a (citizen) vote. It cannot be any more straightforward," said Curtis, R-Sandy.

Valentine said he had no opinion Friday on a special session. Instead, he voiced concerns about the language that will go on the referendum ballot, fearing that voters may be confused by it and the final vote may be considered suspect.

Shurtleff's comments came after meeting with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Patti Harrington, state Board of Education Chairman Kim Burningham and education attorneys over issues surrounding voucher laws.

Both sides called the meeting positive and productive.

The Legislature passed two bills earlier this year: HB148, the main voucher bill which gives a $500 to $3,000 private school tuition voucher based on family income, and HB174, intended to amend HB148 by giving a little extra money to the State Board of Education to put the program in motion, among other changes.