Health-care reform, sales-tax removal, better ethics for state government.
Outgoing Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. says if he had a magic wand and could wave in some unfinished changes to state government, that's what he would pick.
John Huntsman Jr. interview
19 minutes
Huntsman spent much of Monday afternoon in rounds of media interviews, goodbyes, if you will, to local reporters who have covered him since he ran for governor in 2004.
Today in a semi-private ceremony in the Capitol's historic Gold Room, Huntsman will resign as governor, having been confirmed Friday by the U.S. Senate to be the new ambassador to China. He will then be sworn in as ambassador.
Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert will take the oath of office as governor at noon to fill out 18 months of the midterm and then stand for election on his own in 2010.
Huntsman, after brief farewell remarks, will then ride his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, along with a UHP motorcycle color guard, with sirens blazing and cannons firing, back to the Governor's Mansion — officially out of one office and into another.
In an interview with the Deseret News (you can hear most of the interview at deseretnews.com), Huntsman said he leaves Utah with few regrets, and great love and appreciation for his opportunity to serve.
"In truly broad strokes, better preparing this state for the needs of the next generation," is the legacy he is most proud of, the 49-year-old chief executive said.
Huntsman, looking tan and relaxed, seemed to choke up at one point in the interview, a rare occurrence for a man who is known to keep his cool at all times.
In answering a question on his greatest disappointment, Huntsman said that he won't be here to see the finish of health-care reform and "closing out the sales tax on food."
Health care will take several years more of work. And while Huntsman did get the state's 4.75 percent sales tax lowered to 1.75 percent on unprepared food, he failed to get food tax removed from local governments and the rest removed from the state.
Health-care reform will come, he believes. But he's not so sure about removing the rest of the food tax. "I don't know" if it will happen, although he believes he could have achieved that if he stayed for the remaining 31/2 years of his second term.
Failing to see those two goals achieved "weighs heavily on me."
"We need full-blown ethics reform" here, Huntsman said. That includes campaign finance reform, term limits, and independent ethics and redistricting commissions. He doubts all that will happen, however.
Utah special-interest groups "do have too much sway" in state politics, Huntsman said. "We have wide open campaign-finance laws. There is unlimited giving and no immediate (financial) disclosure" on the Web, he said. "And I think that can lead to political mischief, that level of influence unregulated in the system."
The high and the low points he's seen over the last 41/2 years?
Both have to do with overseeing Utah military and law enforcement personnel.
"A moment I will never forget" was personally bringing back the personal effects of a second lieutenant, serving in the Utah National Guard, to his Utah family right after the man's death in Afghanistan.
"It was not the lowest point" of this governorship, "but it was the hardest thing I did."
"I knocked on the door" of the home of the widow and her four children, and "I spoke at the memorial" for the soldier in Afghanistan, who was killed the day before Huntsman arrived to visit the troops.
That moment, along with working with Utah's law enforcement officers, getting to know the troopers and their families, was a very rewarding experience. "To see those who put service above self" every day, he said.
"There have been so many high points," Huntsman said, pausing to regain his composure.
The "highest" point, literally, was campaigning on the top of Mount Olympus, where he hiked and shook hands with potential voters.
Huntsman declined to talk much about politics, saying he is out of that business as an ambassador.
Asked if Herbert should be elected governor next year, Huntsman said, "The voters will decide that. But I have not regretted for one day" picking Herbert as his lieutenant governor in the 2004 election.
He declined to say if he would vote for President Barack Obama in 2012, the Democrat who appointed him ambassador.
Huntsman said he ran in 2004 as a "right of center" Republican, and he believes he has governed as such since.
"When you sit in this job, you have to serve all the people" not just Republicans.
He said he pushed Utah's economic development and free market system, but he is also for green technology and renewable energy, and those must fit right in with Utah's economic growth.
Huntsman said he guesses he'll return to Utah after his China service. He wouldn't rule out another run for public office, but has no plans to do so now.
"I've lived as a public servant vagabond," taking various jobs as offered in government. "And I've loved every minute of it, the ups and downs, the criticism and the praise."
On his new post in China, Huntsman said he will not push his religion. He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "I will represent all faiths, as I did" as governor.
He and first lady Mary Kaye Huntsman adopted a Chinese girl, Gracie Mei, who is now 10. And Huntsman said the couple will continue to push for adoptions and/or better life alternatives for Chinese girls "who are too frequently abandoned, with no future and no home."
Huntsman's hair has noticeably grayed during his four years as governor. He doesn't see that changing as ambassador. But, he joked, he won't complain as long as "the gray matter" underneath his hair grows wiser at the same time.
e-mail: bbjr@desnews.com