Session pleases Walker

Olene Walker has watched more than 20 Utah legislatures as a lawmaker, lieutenant governor and top executive branch boss.

But the 2004 version was special: She's helped run it as the state's first female chief executive.

The past month and a half have been exciting, a lot of work, and "remarkable," she told the Deseret Morning News earlier this week.

And in the end, she got almost all that she wanted.

"My priorities have been met, for the most part," she said. "We've struck a balance (on taxation), bonding is within a range I can accept. There's more one-time money than I'd like in ongoing programs, but it's OK, and we've put a small amount into the Rainy Day Fund."

Her 2 percent pay raise for state workers was trimmed to 1 percent in base pay, another 1 percent in one-time bonuses, but she can accept that, too, she said. Her third priority, fixing Utah's Workers Compensation Fund, was headed for final approval late Wednesday, and it was pretty close to what she wanted.

While important, all that is icing on the cake.

What Walker really got from the 2004 Legislature is respect. When she talked, they listened.

"There was never a time where she was treated poorly or with a lack of respect — and she never treated us that way, either," said House Majority Leader Greg Curtis, R-Sandy.

She broke the ground of a woman governor, several legislators said. She did it with humor, firm actions, with straight talk, using an iron will when need be.

Former Gov. Mike Leavitt, a Republican like Walker and the majority of the Utah Legislature, was at times a target for some conservative lawmakers. Walker never had a political bulls-eye on her, said Curtis.

Did lawmakers go soft on her because she's a woman and a grandmother?

Perhaps, says Walker. "But I didn't act like a grandmother," she said, even though with 25 grandchildren she said she knows how to play that game, too.

Being a woman is also part of the good working relationship with GOP leaders, all of whom are men, she said. "But I've been very open with them. I've been upstairs the last 11 years with the Leavitt administration. I understand the language, the process. I've been upfront with them. I've been firm but friendly."

Did she really threaten to veto the whole $8 billion budget if the GOP House caucus didn't agree to her $30 million grade school reading program?