Voucher vote in November?

But state board members on Thursday refused to adopt such implementing rules until they have some questions answered regarding how to fill in "holes" in the new law. That appears to violate Shurtleff's opinion, said Valentine.

"There was a clear directive" from the attorney general, said Valentine, who like Curtis is an attorney.

"I question why (the board) is not following the law," the president said. Valentine said he's at a loss to figure out why, and "we will be having discussions with the State Board of Education very soon."

Board leaders did have rules drafted for the the original law, which is now on hold. But they said even if they do decide there is enough language in the second law to allow them to draft a rule it is going to take some time — that could mean vouchers won't be available to families this fall.

Voucher supporters say the board is just stalling

"They are totally dragging their feet — it's the same program and they could easily shift the rules to apply to (the second law) if they wanted to," said Leah Barker, spokeswoman for Parents for Choice in Education and Children First Utah, who said nearly 6,000 Utah families are waiting to apply for a voucher.

Legislators have no direct power over the publicly elected state board.

However, lawmakers have the power of the purse, because they fund the state board's internal operations.

As further evidence that GOP legislative leaders didn't plan the second voucher bill vote as a way to bypass any referendum attempt, Curtis said legislators could have "changed two words" in the second bill's title "and a few other words here or there" and they would have had the exact same enactment language in the second bill as in the first.

And it would have been clear to anyone, and made a better case in court, that the second, legally binding bill could stand alone to implement vouchers.

"It could have been exactly the same bill" — but wasn't — and so voucher supporters in the Legislature were not trying to be "tricky," said Curtis.

Curtis said he doesn't understand why "anyone opposed to vouchers" would have voted in favor of the second bill, anyway.

Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, told the conference — crowded with the movers and shakers in state government and business — that some voucher advocates didn't even want to debate or pass the second bill. That was because they had already "won" with the main voucher bill, and some concerns by Democrats and GOP moderates dealt with in the second bill should just be ignored.

But Curtis told Hughes as a voucher winner he should be gracious, and that more funding wanted by opponents to vouchers should be given in the second bill.