State budget talks skid off the 'freeway of love'

Legislative leaders and Gov. Jon Huntsman apparently forgot to pick up other legislators before driving down the freeway of love.

After a week of optimistic predictions about an early finish to this year's budget process, budget negotiations have started to look like any other year, especially in the Republican caucuses.

Both the House and Senate caucuses struggled behind closed doors Tuesday to reach an agreement on a budget proposal brought to them by their leaders.

"We're in a deadlock," Senate Majority Leader Pete Knudson, R-Brigham City, said.

The budget proposal presented Tuesday included some significant changes, especially a total of $4.9 million for Medicaid adult vision and dental funding, that was not included in Monday's budget proposal. (The governor and the subcommittee have requested $8.7 million.)

Otherwise, transportation funding remains a priority, with another $20 million in ongoing revenue and $30 million in one-time funding proposed, as does an additional 1 percentage point increase in the Weighted Pupil Unit, the primary funding source for public education.

With closed caucuses and very little specifics from members, which portions of the budget are causing the gridlock is unclear. It seems, however, that the desires of more conservative legislators are bumping heads with the more moderate members and Huntsman, especially in the areas of Medicaid funding, education programs and increased salaries for state employees who are paid well below market averages.

House Budget Chairman Ron Bigelow, R-West Valley, said that the "problem is our caucuses," not any major disagreements between leadership or Huntsman. For the second day this week, in fact, the caucuses could not agree to a budget proposal approved — or at least not objected to — by Huntsman, Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, and House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy.

"There was agreement on a lot of issues, but there are several sticking points," Bigelow said. "We need to get those resolved before we move forward."

Legislative leaders met again with the governor Tuesday evening. Huntsman isn't likely to budge from the same spending priorities, chief of staff Jason Chaffetz said.

"Our priorities remain the same. We think we can find the money for state employees and education," Chaffetz said, although he declined to be identify the main areas of disagreement. "We're making progress an inch at a time. We just have to continue the dialog."

Over the next few days, Chaffetz — who last week joked that the legislators and Huntsman were on the "freeway of love" with their budget negotiations — said the governor will likely meet two to three times daily with legislative leaders "and just keep hammering this out. Nobody is going to get everything they want, including the governor."

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