The governor's order, an energy-saving move that shutters most stater agencies on Fridays, took many lawmakers by surprise. And now there are hints of a possible counteraction from the Legislature during its general session beginning in January.
The most vocal critic so far has been Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, who is president of the Utah Taxpayers Association. He wrote in his association's newsletter last week that while the governor's idea has merit, it should have been more thoroughly thought out, with some help from the Legislature.
Huntsman's shoot-from-the-hip approach has drawn daggers from the legislative branch before, especially last year when he unilaterally committed the state to an interstate compact to address climate change through a series of measures to reduce greenhouse gases.
The premise of the governors' Western Climate Initiative runs counter to the belief held by a sizable portion of Utah's conservative legislative body that global warming is not a human-caused phenomenon.
In fact, Jason Chaffetz, Huntsman's former chief of staff and the Republican Party's nominee for the 3rd Congressional District, received the loudest ovation at the GOP state convention when he declared that Huntsman was dead wrong on global warming.
The governor has stepped on some legislative toes twice this summer with his unilateral push to abolish the merit system for state employees and to scotch the five-day workweek. After Huntsman's gambit on the merit system was revealed, some of Huntsman's state administrators got a nasty grilling by members of the interim Government Operations Committee. Since then, Huntsman's move on the merit system seems to have slowed.
Stephenson says the four-day workweek plan could have been molded into a great initiative had the governor simply let the Legislature in on the discussions instead of acting unilaterally.
"I support four-tens," said Stephenson. "It cuts down on the use of gas by reducing employees' commute by 20 percent a week. But there is no reason to shut down government on Fridays."
Stephenson said many private businesses have four-day weeks so their employees can take care of necessities like doctor and dentist appointments, and government requirements such as car registration renewals, on Fridays.
"Now, that option is taken away," said Stephenson, who suggested giving employees options like working Monday through Thursday or Tuesday through Friday, so the goal of reducing fuel emissions is achieved without limiting citizens' access to government agencies.
He also said the minority of state employees who have complained that they are being inconvenienced because they have children to consider could have been given the option of staying with the five-day week.
It bears pointing out that Huntsman's decision to close down state agencies on Fridays was in part a move to save a day's worth of the power needed to light, heat and cool government buildings.
House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, agrees with Stephenson. He said officials in the Governor's Office told him about the idea before it was floated, but he just assumed they meant a staggered plan where employees would have optional days off and agencies would remain open five days. When the plan was announced, he said he was surprised, but "I probably should have asked more questions when I was first told about it."
