Voucher law vote may wait until '08

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

A referendum vote on Utah's school voucher law likely won't take place this year, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said Friday.

Assuming the Lt. Governor's Office finds 92,000 valid petition signatures among 131,000 submitted last week, Huntsman is leaning toward putting the issue on the Feb. 5, 2008, ballot, during the Western States Presidential Primary. Funding, turnout and timing are among the concerns cited by Huntsman, lawmakers and advocates on both sides of the voucher debate.

Huntsman said the earliest he would consider a referendum election would be November, but he plans to call a special session to change state law to allow for a February vote.

Huntsman describes his push for February as "financial pragmatism."

"I'm leaning toward February based on finances alone," he said.

The governor originally said he wanted to hold a vote as soon as possible, but a special election in June would cost taxpayers $3.5 million. The February 2008 presidential primary is the nearest fully funded election.

Huntsman will declare an official election date after the petition drive is deemed "sufficient" or "insufficient" on April 30. If it is deemed sufficient, the Parent Choice in Education Act will be put on hold until voters weigh in.

A second bill, however, could allow a voucher program to move forward in the meantime. That bill, which amended the act and recodified key components, isn't subject to a referendum drive because it passed the Legislature with a two-thirds majority.

That bill alone could establish a voucher program, according to the Utah Attorney General's Office. The opinion was a win for Parents for Choice in Education, a voucher advocacy group, which has focused more on that law's implementation than on the referendum election date. Under the program, all parents of public school children would be eligible for taxpayer funds to help pay private school tuition.

"We basically have no preference because [the second bill] goes into effect on April 30," spokeswoman Nancy Pomeroy said. "While it's great to have the question on the ballot, it doesn't change anything fundamentally for us."

The group heading the referendum drive believes the second bill is moot without the first one and will likely challenge in court any attempt to implement it.

Voucher opponents are hoping for an election date that will bring high voter turnout and allow enough time to educate the public, said Lindsay Zizumbo, Utahns for Public Schools spokeswoman.

"We're ready to ramp up for a campaign whenever they call it," she said. "It's up to the governor and it's his prerogative when to call it."

House Republicans batted around scenarios during a caucus meeting earlier this week. Logan GOP Rep. Scott Wyatt, who voted for the voucher law, argued against a June 2007 vote.

"I just don't want to see it this summer," he said. "The summer elections bring in such a low number of voters."

With no money allocated, House Majority Leader David Clark, who also supported the bill, said he thinks a June vote "is not physically a possibility."

And Senate President John Valentine isn't inclined to provide any extra money for a special election. He calls a June vote "not acceptable," but would be fine with a referendum election in February, June or November of 2008, during elections that are already funded.

This November's municipal elections are not fully funded because some counties don't have seats up for a vote and others would need to upgrade to electronic machines for a statewide election, said Joe Demma, lieutenant governor's chief of staff.

Yet even funded elections may require action from lawmakers. Voter information pamphlets, which outline pro and con arguments from both sides of referendum issues, are prepared according to statutory deadlines based on a November election. So June or February referendum vote could require a new set of filing dates, according to the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel.

But a voucher referendum during the February 2008 election could bring legislators heartburn for another reason. That election falls in the middle of the legislative session.

"It is going to put some huge diversions in our session," House Majority Whip Gordon Snow said. "I think we need some time to think about that."

nstricker@sltrib.com

mcanham@sltrib.com