Huntsman approval rating goes still higher

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jul 27, 2006 | by Copyright 2006 Deseret Morning News By Lisa Riley Roche

With a whopping 88 percent approval rating according to the latest Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has reached the stratosphere of much-loved Utah politicians.

Huntsman's new rating puts him right up there with former Gov. Mike Leavitt, who received similar high approval ratings midway through his 11-year tenure. So did former Gov. Olene Walker, who filled the remainder of Leavitt's term.

Utahns have liked Huntsman since he took office in January 2005, but the new numbers show an increase even after his high-profile defeats on tax reform and other issues, including funding emergency dental care for the poor.

In an interview Wednesday, the governor downplayed the results of the July 14-20 survey of 900 Utahns statewide by Dan Jones & Associates. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percent.

Whatever the numbers are, Huntsman said, "We're just going to keep doing what we think is right in moving our agenda forward. Tax reform clearly is a big part of that." So is getting funding for early childhood education and support for ethics reform in the executive branch.

Those are all issues that failed to win support in the 2006 Legislature. Still, the governor said, he is gearing up for another go-round on them. That could include calling lawmakers into a special session this fall to tackle individual income tax reform -- and cuts.

Legislative leaders have said that they don't see a sense of urgency in dealing with tax cuts before January. But now there appears to be growing interest in lowering taxes, especially as the November elections draw near.

"I'm OK with some of the (new) proposals," said House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, on Wednesday. However, the speaker said he believes it will take until October or November to "naturally bring along" other House and Senate members.

Curtis said that "more and more" lawmakers are coming around to Huntsman's tax-reform side.

Despite his ever-increasing popularity, the governor said he was not willing to force lawmakers to tackle tax reform before they're ready. Huntsman said he's willing to wait until the January general session convenes to deal with taxes.

Huntsman hasn't identified a favorite from among the four options currently under consideration but said he wants to give taxpayers "flexibility and choice." Each of the options would let taxpayers pick between staying in the current system or paying a flatter tax.

A dual tax system means no one would see a tax increase. Just how much taxes would be cut overall has yet to be determined, Huntsman said, although the current proposals would slice between $72 million and $113 million from revenue collections.

Last session, legislative leaders and the governor had agreed on a plan to cut individual income taxes by $70 million. But that failed to pass, and Huntsman was forced to cancel a planned special session earlier this year after errors were discovered that increased the price tag the plan.

Lawmakers don't share Huntsman's high approval numbers. The new poll found that 58 percent of Utahns surveyed like job the Legislature is doing -- 30 percentage points lower than the governor's rating.

However, a 58 percent approval rating is not bad for an anonymous group like the Legislature. Huntsman said that he wouldn't have fared so well had Utahns been asked about the executive branch as a whole.

Still, Utahns didn't agree with GOP legislators' inaction last month on a $2 million Huntsman request to fund emergency dental care for disabled and poor Utahns.

Jones found that 61 percent of registered voters think the Legislature should have funded the dental care during a July special session. Only 31 percent said the poor, disabled people shouldn't have gotten the extra $2 million.

As it turned out, after GOP legislators refused to even debate the $2 million request, a local hospital chain and philanthropist/ businessman stepped forward to each provide $1 million in aid.

Huntsman said that Medicaid dental aid should not be considered optional by the federal government. But he recognizes that come the 2007 Legislature Utah may, again, have to make a decision on whether to pick up the dental funding if the federal government won't.

E-mail: lisa@desnews.com; bbjr@desnews.com