OCR Text |
Show Page 12 THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Volume III, Issue I November 1, 2000 Governor Duties of the Governor "The executive power of the state shall be vested in the Governor who shall see that the laws are faithfully executed.” (Utah Constitution) Major Statutory Duties: As the state's chief administrator of the executive branch, the Governor is final arbiter of the policy decisions of all state agencies. The Governor's Office also contains the Lieutenant Governor's Office, the Office of Planning and Budget, the Commission on Crime and Juvenile Justice and the Crime Victim Reparations Program. Questions Posed to All Candidates for Governor 1. Goals. As Governor of Utah, what two things do you most want to accomplish for the people of Utah? 2. Education. Utah makes a considerable tax effort to ensure that children receive the education they need to become productive adults. Every 100 working adults in Utah must support 41 children, compared to a national average of only 30 children per 100 workers. Utah spends 41.5 percent of its state budget on education, which is the second highest percentage in the U.S. How would you change the state tax system to pay for competing demands for education and other state needs? 3. Health Insurance. In Utah, about 240,000 people (11 percent of the population) are without health insurance. These are mostly people from working families. Should the government help the uninsured? Do you favor a specific proposal to address this problem? 4. Corrections. In the past fifteen years, Utah's incarceration rate has skyrocketed by 250 percent. The legislative fiscal analyst says this high rate of imprisonment drives the increases in the Corrections budget because incarceration is the most expensive consequence for offenders and recidivism is high. Would you consider: (a) treatment, rather than imprisonment for some drug offenders? (b) putting more non-violent offenders on probation and providing more supervision than is now available? 5. Wilderness. Utahns continue to debate the amount and location of land that should be designated as wilderness. The amount suggested by the BLM and citizen groups ranges from 3 to 9 million acres. Recently less restrictive plans, such as the San Rafael Legacy District, which does not include wilderness areas, have been proposed. Relative damage from oil and mineral exploration, grazing, and off-road vehicles are some issues. What is your solution for the wilderness debate? What would you do to advance your proposal and how would you make it work for all Utahns? 6. Campaign Finance. The League of Women Voters believes democracy is working when all voices are heard. Is campaign finance reform needed to assure that democracy works? If so, what do you believe are the necessary elements in effective reform? Examples: more frequent disclosure of contributions received; limits on the size of contributions to candidates from individuals, political action committees, corporations and unions and candidates themselves; a ban on direct contributions from corporations and unions; restrictions on personal use of campaign funds; incentives to reduce spending such as public funding. Please be specific. Jeremy Friedbaum Independent American 1072 W 1100 North, Provo UT 84604 Telephone: 801/375-1995 Fax: 603-8046137 Web: www.usiap.org Lt. Governor: Lee McKenzie Occupations: Computer Consultant and Craftsman Education: B.A. Skidmore College, M.A. English, BYU Prior Experience: Candidate for U.S. Congress District 3, 1998 Republican Primary. 1. Goals: a) Let every Utah parent have the choice of how to spend the funds Utah collects for each of their children’s education. b) I will vigorously support the right to life, the un-infringed right to bear arms, the state’s right to control it’s own affairs, and all other rights due a people who recognize God as our Sovereign. Michael Leavitt Republican Primary Candidate P.O. Box 1950, SLC UT 841100150 Telephone: 801/994-7261 Fax 801/9947263 Web: www.mikeleavitt.com Lt. Governor: Olene S. Walker Occupation: Governor Education: B.S, Business and Economics, Southern Utah University Prior Experience: Governor for 2 terms. Member, State Board of Regents 1. Goals: 1) An education system in which we invest more but expect more, and which prepares our people for a successful transition to the global economy. 2) To maintain the economic prosperity in our state so that our children have the option to stay here and live out their lives and support themselves with family-wage jobs. 2. Education: I have prepared and Bill Orton Democrat 455 S 300 East, #102, SLC UT 84111 Telephone: 801/328-1212 Web: www.billorton.com Lt. Governor: Karen Hale Occupation: Tax Attorney Education: B.S., BYU, 1973; J.D., BYU, 1980 Prior Experience: Representative, U.S. House of Representatives UT-3, 19911997 1. Goals: (a) Make Utah's educational system the best possible for our children. (b) Keep Utah the best place for our children to live in the future through planning for growth and transportation, reducing crime, protecting the environment, and improving economic opportunities for all Utahns. 2. Education: It is untrue that Utah has too many children and not enough resources to educate them—It is not taxes but political priorities that must be 2. Education: Let parents take two thirds (~$3,000) of the total funds the state collects for each child (~$,4,500) if they choose to educate their child outside of public school, and leave one third (~$1,500) in the public school to increase the funding per student as the student to teacher ratio falls. More choice. More money per student. Smaller classes. Same taxes. 3. Health Insurance: In my lifetime the patient/doctor relationship has gotten worse, not better, with the rise of third party managed care. All Utah residents should be able to choose a medical savings plan, where your payments go into your own tax-free savings account and you pay your doctor directly, while you remain covered only by inexpensive catastrophic insurance. 4. Corrections: The Savior himself called on his followers to visit those in prison. I believe there is something wrong at the core of our present penal system. As in the Bible, we need to emphasize restitution where possible, so both the victim and perpetrator can be healed. Run the prisons to facilitate restitution, not for aimless punishment that graduates master criminals. 5. Wilderness: The United States Constitution intended all land to be controlled by the individual states with the limited exceptions of military bases, post offices, and roads connecting them. The sorry state of Utah’s inability to control and properly manage the lands in its own boundaries, including wilderness, results from post-Civil War corruption, and should be reversed. 6. Campaign finance: As a state Governor, I would not have the authority to reform the recent federal policies and decisions that threaten to let our constitutional republic continue to devolve into a puppet government for a global corporate plutocracy. So you had better vote for the other Independent American Party candidates running for federal office, if you want help here. passed eight balanced budgets, in which my philosophy of efficient, limited government is well portrayed. We do face an immense challenge in education, particularly in the near future, as our birthrate climbs. Two keys to budgeting will be continued economic prosperity and a commitment to make education the top priority. My commitment is clear on both. 3. Health Insurance: Because of the Children's Health Insurance Program CHIP), the expansion of Medicaid and insurance reforms, all Utah children have access to basic health insurance. I have asked for federal authority to reconfigure Medicaid so that the same accessibility of coverage can be extended to more adults, particularly the working poor. 4. Corrections: The state of Utah is doing both. This year drug courts--which combine monitoring with treatment--are being expanded statewide, and we have expanded the use of alternative punishment, including monitored house arrest, for non-violent offenders. Utah's crime rates have dropped to the lowest point in 20 years; this year we have been able to defer building new prisons. 5. Wilderness: My record and level of activism toward resolution of the wilder- ness debate are clear. I currently have a proposal before Congress to resolve the wilderness question in the entire western half of the state. I intend during the next four years to move aggressively to solve the contentious issue of RS2477 roads, which I believe is a pre-requisite to resolving the entire wilderness dispute. 6. Campaign Finance: I don't like the existing system. However, I have not been able to come up with a way of resolving the down sides to reforms. A key principle clearly would be full and immediate disclosure. But I do not favor a system that would limit the capacity of those entering politics to get their message out, so that only the rich or famous could get elected. raised. Utah has a transportation plan that takes money from education to build roads—but no plan for education. Education is not a current priority. I will fix and fund education without raising taxes because education is my #1 priority. 3. Health Insurance: Medical treatment for the uninsured is indirectly built into our system now through higher costs and insurance rates. Having everyone insured would reduce overall costs. The private sector and market forces can best provide health care coverage. Purchasing cooperatives, business incentives and credits for low-income families should be used to make affordable insurance available to all Utahns. 4. Corrections: The purpose of imprisonment is two-fold; protect society and punish crime. With limited resources we must consider rehabilitation including treatment for substance addicts and house arrest for non-violent criminals. The higher educated an individual, the less likely that person will end up in prison. Investing more in education now will reduce corrections costs later. 5. Wilderness: Utah should stop arguing over total acreage and consider every parcel of land based upon specific resources and uses. The argument over “x” million acres as wilderness distracts the public from the real issue of balancing interests and finding the most appropriate designation for each parcel of public lands. While in Congress my proposal included some wilderness plus less restrictive plans and resolved the RS 2477 issue. 6. Campaign Finance: Current Utah laws allow big money special interests to take priority over the public interest and allow politicians to convert campaign contributions to personal use. Utah laws must be changed to limit the size of contributions, ban corporate and special interest money, prohibit personal use of campaign funds, require total immediate disclosure, create an independent elections commission, and limit spending. |