Huntsman hits ground running

Gov.-elect Jon Huntsman Jr. was already in a hurry Wednesday to get his new administration up and running, announcing that tax reform would be a top priority during his first year in office.

"I'm very mindful of the so-called honeymoon period," Huntsman told the Deseret Morning News after his first post-victory press conference. "You have a limited window to get things done. . . . If you don't take advantage of it, you're never going to get it back."

By next Tuesday, the 44-year-old Republican business executive and former diplomat said he plans to announce the members of his transition team and how they'll go about shaping the first new gubernatorial administration in a dozen years.

A plan will be in place by mid-December, Huntsman said. He will be sworn in on Jan. 3 to replace outgoing Gov. Olene Walker, less than two weeks before the annual session of the Legislature begins.

"We're not going to waste any time in the weeks ahead. I know the first year of this administration will be critically important. Look at tax reform and some of our other key initiatives," he said. "They have to be done in the first year."

Huntsman said he doesn't know what shape his tax reform proposal will take. Walker, who lost her bid to stay in the office she assumed in 2003 when former Gov. Mike Leavitt took a job in the Bush administration, is already putting together a similar proposal.

Whatever he comes up with, he said, will be focused on simplicity, comprehensiveness and eliminating "loopholes and giveaways. I believe we need to start with a fresh slate, not necessarily dependent on who has the best lobbyists on Capitol Hill, but based on merit."

Huntsman met with Walker for more than an hour Wednesday about the transition. He'd already talked earlier in the day with Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who led the 2002 Winter Games. The pair plan to meet in person soon.

"I'm not overwhelmed," Huntsman said, even though his political experience is limited to appointments in three presidential administrations, including as the U.S. ambassador to Singapore. "Perhaps I'm a political rookie," he said.

But that could pay off, especially as he deals with the GOP-dominated Legislature. "I do think that not having any baggage that's associated with politics is an advantage," Huntsman said. "I haven't been involved in a lot of their turf wars."

His transition plan will give Utahns answers about his proposals for the state budget in addition to his appointments. Huntsman suggested there could be some significant changes in how some state functions, such as economic development, are organized.