Rosy revenue picture may ease sting of budget battles

With $112 million more to spend this year, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and GOP legislative leaders "are feeling the love" that extra cash can bring to political battles.

House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, told his GOP House caucus Tuesday that Huntsman is willing to "help us get to" $85 million more for transportation spending in the fiscal 2005-2006 budget.

And Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, had the same message for his Republican caucus — welcome news after weeks of wrangling over the governor's insistence that $33 million was enough for road projects next year.

"We're on the freeway of love," Huntsman's chief of staff, Jason Chaffetz, told a reporter. Now, he said, the governor and lawmakers are getting close to agreeing on major budget issues.

What a difference a new revenue forecast can make.

Monday, state budget experts predicted $48 million more in one-time surpluses this year and $74 million more in new tax revenue growth in the 2005-2006 budget, which starts July 1. That's on top of the millions more lawmakers were counting on already.

Curtis, with his caucus' approval, also killed HB97 Tuesday afternoon, another indication that GOP lawmakers won't be playing budget hard-ball with the new governor — at least not this session.

The bill, which a Huntsman staffer called "bad policy" several weeks ago, would have automatically continued a current spending plan into the next fiscal year if legislators and/or the governor couldn't agree on a new budget.

HB97 would have been a "major" change in the balance of powers in budget-setting, Huntsman and even some Democratic legislators claimed. Curtis said the proposal will be studied between now and the 2006 Legislature.

The House speaker said he appreciated that Huntsman "has not used the word veto" in talking to legislative leaders about budget differences.

Even though the Republican governor and GOP legislative are feeling better about each other's budget priorities, Chaffetz warned that Huntsman hasn't yet checked off on $85 million more for roads.

"We're getting close," Chaffetz said. "We aren't there yet."

Before the new, much-higher revenue estimates came in, Huntsman wanted $33 million in one-time surpluses for new roads, while House Republicans wanted $85 million in ongoing funds for new transportation projects.