FARR WEST — House Speaker Marty Stephens made it official Saturday — he's running for governor — and he doesn't think more taxes need to burden already highly taxed Utahns.
Stephens, R-Farr West, recently resigned his job at Zions Bank to devote full time to his gubernatorial run. He is expected to be joined in the race to party nomination by at least five other GOP candidates.
In his announcement to a packed house in the Farr West City Council chambers, where he started his political career 20 years ago, Stephens played well with a hometown crowd of well-wishers, including a score of family members wearing red, white and blue campaign T-shirts emblazoned "Marty!"
In a brief speech punctuated several times by applause, Stephens said the best government is that closest to the people and most accountable to them. "I've learned the best government is that which trusts the people to make good decisions for themselves and their families and then allows them to take responsibility for those decisions."
Stephens said he believes public education needs more funding, but it also needs to be more accountable to the public. Quality education would be a high priority for him as would allowing parents to have a role in the education process.
"Together, we'll give parents, educators and students more choices, local control and better schools," he said. "I don't believe we need to raise taxes. We can find sufficient funding for education in the budget. We can't go back to citizens in the ninth-highest taxed state and ask for more money."
Stephens said of all the potential candidates for governor, only he has experience at all levels of government. "As a citizen member of the city council, as a citizen mayor, and as a citizen state lawmaker, I have not held a full-time elected office in all my years of service.
"During that time I have owned my own business and have worked for two major corporations. This has allowed me to gain an invaluable understanding of how government works and how to get things done in its bureaucracy, while holding a normal, full-time job," Stephens said.
"I understand what it means to make a payroll. I understand what it means to have to work through the government bureaucracy to get something done. I understand what it means to have rules and regulations so constricting that business cannot grow or produce the good jobs this state needs."
E-MAIL: lweist@desnews.com