Voucher vote 'up or down,' guv says

With other GOP leaders balking, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. did an about-face Saturday and promised to call the Legislature into special session if needed to ensure there is an up-or-down vote on private-school vouchers this fall.

"My job is to provide maximum clarity to voters," the governor told the Deseret Morning News. "There were 130,000 signatures (on a voucher referendum petition) that attest to the fact that the interested parties would like to see a legitimate vote up or down."

Just a few days ago Huntsman said there was no point in calling lawmakers — who created voucher confusion by passing two similar bills — into special session before the referendum election that resulted from the statewide petition drive organized by voucher opponents.

Huntsman said there was no legislative will to repeal the second voucher bill or somehow remedy the problem, even though Democrats and some moderate GOP lawmakers had publicly urged a special session.

Instead, the governor said he, along with Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, and House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, would pledge to Utahns that if voters reject the first voucher bill in a special referendum vote set for Nov. 6, the state would scrap the private-school funding program altogether.

But Huntsman appears to have had a change of heart after both Valentine and Curtis publicly said they may not push for voucher repeal despite joining the governor in issuing a vague statement last week that promised to follow "the rule of law" after the election.

The governor's new "voucher clarity letter" came hours after Saturday morning's Deseret Morning News carried a new public opinion poll by Dan Jones & Associates that showed overwhelming majorities on critical voucher questions.

The poll showed that should citizens vote down vouchers, 64 percent of Utahns believe lawmakers should repeal the second voucher law to make sure the state doesn't provide tuition vouchers to parents who want to send their children to private schools.

More specifically to Huntsman, Jones found that 76 percent Utahns want the governor to call a summer special session so legislators can take whatever action is needed to ensure that the Nov. 6 vote is a clear up-or-down vote on vouchers.

Huntsman said in an interview Saturday he had not seen the poll and would not comment on his failed attempt to secure a commitment from legislative leaders that they would honor the outcome of the election.