From Deseret News archives:
Lawmakers agree with governor on 3 top needs
But the devil is in the details, the Republican lawmakers said, and while the governor "can deal in generalities, we can't," as House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, put it.
Speaking Tuesday at his Education Summit at Salt Lake Community College, Huntsman said he'll try to push tax money into those three areas for his fiscal 2008-09 budget, which will almost certainly top $12 billion. He plans to publicly release his recommended budget in early December, as required by law, and the Legislature will adopt next year's spending plan before it adjourns at the end of February.
The governor's priorities reflect pressing needs in the state. Utah has a growing number of uninsured residents 300,000, including 46,000 children.
And according to state records, stringent new federal air-quality standards for particulate matter were violated about one-fifth of the time during the past winter in northern Utah. For summertime ozone levels, Salt Lake and Davis counties had 18 "red alert" days when the standard was violated, and Utah and Weber counties had 19 such days.
At the start of the 2008 legislative session, legislators will put $20 million of ongoing tax money into public schools to make whole last session's promised $2,500 pay raise for each teacher. Valentine said they will also find enough one-time moneys to ensure a $1,000, one-time bonus for each teacher will be paid, despite calculation errors that left the 2007 teacher-pay plan short of cash.
Curtis said that last year, legislators promised teachers a $2,500 pay raise, "and we are still committed to that. We don't know the type of pay raise that the governor wants in the future, in 2008, so we'll have to see what that is."
Curtis looks forward to details on the governor's budget priorities. "In the big picture, we all agree there should be health insurance for all. What are the details?" he said.
As for air quality, Curtis said, "living in this valley, we're all worried about it, but some are saying we shouldn't build the Mountain View Corridor highway because of air quality. Is he saying that? Does he want to set automobile emissions standards as some states are imposing? And what impact would have that have on fleets of vehicles and individuals?"
Recent comments
lackadaisical- adj. lazy; indolent; listless. I certainly hope...
to UhhHuh | Nov. 14, 2007 at 9:56 p.m.
reality-check out your figures. I got mine from the November 9th...
state man | Nov. 14, 2007 at 7:43 p.m.
I am a Republican and I applaud the governor for his concern for air...
Air quality must improve! | Nov. 14, 2007 at 3:42 p.m.
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