Gov. Olene Walker said Thursday she'll unveil a proposal for a major overhaul of Utah taxes later this month, just weeks before she leaves office — a plan that came as a surprise to Gov.-elect Jon Huntsman Jr.
Huntsman announced during his first press conference Wednesday that tax reform would be a top priority during his first year in office. Hours later, he met with the governor and learned of her intention to offer her own proposal.
"We'll have to wait and see like everybody else what that recommendation is," said Huntsman's spokesman, Jason Chaffetz. "It's a great place to start. It may not be where we end up."
Walker, who lost her bid to stay in the office she's held since former Gov. Mike Leavitt joined the Bush administration last year, said she considered just listing the various options for tax reform rather than coming up with a specific proposal.
"I've gone through stages," she said, "From the fact that if I were in the race, it would be a major effort to get it passed. Finding out I wasn't in, I thought I'd put a lot of options out there." But she said she decided that wouldn't be as helpful as coming up with a specific proposal.
Walker, a Republican like Hunts- man, declined to discuss details of her proposal other than it would be revenue-neutral and probably upset a lot of people.
"We'll roll it out this month," she said. "That's when my political approval heads downward. We're doing a major, major restructuring. . . . It's going to be politically very sensitive, but we're going to do it."
The governor had announced nearly a year ago that she would have a proposal in place by August for consideration by the 2005 Legislature. But that was before she decided to run and Walker said this summer that the project turned out to be more complicated than anticipated.
She said tax reform probably will have to be pushed through the Legislature all at once rather than a piece at a time. "You need to get everyone angry at the same time," Walker said she was advised. "Everyone will probably be hurt some place, and that's what they'll notice."
Huntsman said Wednesday he intended his tax reform effort to focus on simplicity, comprehensiveness and eliminating "loopholes and giveaways. I believe we need to start with a fresh slate, not necessarily dependent on who has the best lobbyists on Capitol Hill"
The governor-elect also said he was willing to expend considerable political capital to get a reform package passed during the first year of his administration. "It's going to take some heavy lifting," Chaffetz said.
The state is providing Huntsman with an office on Capitol Hill that will be staffed by volunteers. The governor-elect has said he'll name the members of his transition team next week. He will be sworn in on Jan. 3, two weeks before the Legislature meets.
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