This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The vote will be close and lobbying has intensified on whether to override Gov. Gary Herbert's veto of a bill to earmark sales-tax money for road construction, with a few key Democrats likely to decide the outcome.

"According to my count, if I'm doing my math right, we have enough votes with one to spare, so we should be OK, and I think the House is still holding strong," said Senate Majority Leader Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City.

That means that, if the numbers hold, 21 senators will vote Friday morning to override Herbert's veto of SB229.

The bill seeks to earmark 30 percent of the growth in sales tax-revenue — about $60 million a year — for road projects, but Herbert vetoed it, saying it would prioritize road projects over higher education or social services.

Lobbying on the bill has stepped up recently. Herbert has met with senators seen has potential swing votes. The United Way issued an "action alert" Tuesday urging supporters to voice their opposition to the override, while the education community has also registered its opposition.

On the other side, labor unions have urged legislators to support the override, arguing that spending on roads translates into jobs.

The jobs argument has helped sway a few Democrats, including Sens. Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake City, and Karen Mayne, D-West Valley City, who, along with Ben McAdams, D-Salt Lake City, are expected to cast crucial votes with their Republican colleagues for the override.

"I'm leaning toward [an override]," Davis said. "We need jobs, and I really believe if we can get that [money] into creating jobs, [it helps]."

Mayne said she also believes it will alleviate high unemployment in the construction trades, construction costs are low and the state is way behind in the maintenance of its roads and bridges.

"It's true that highway construction creates jobs, but it's also true that other forms of state spending also create jobs for teachers, health care workers, Highway Patrol officers," said Allison Rowland, a budget and policy director for the group Voices for Utah Children. "To suggest the only way to create jobs in Utah is to spend more money on transportation is false."

McAdams, who said he is undecided but leaning toward the override, said he thinks taking 30 percent of the money off the table is "an opportunity to really force the dialogue" on whether to raise the gas tax or other taxes, or close tax loopholes to pay for critical state needs.

"We're at a point now where we can't meet the core functions of government without adjustments to our revenue," McAdams said. "[If we're] only going to see 70 percent, then we can get serious and say, 'What are we going to need to seriously fund education and other functions of government?' "

Rowland said roads have seen unprecedented spending, with projects growing from $1 billion to nearly $2 billion per year at a time when every other department in the state was suffering from budget cuts.

"Now we're seeing a real public discussion of priorities and whether transportation should get an automatic placement at the top of the list of priorities or not," she said.

The governor has been meeting directly with legislators to try to convince them not to override his veto of the bill.

It has left some, such as Sen. Daniel Thatcher, R-West Valley City, in a difficult position.

"I hate it, on principle, but if we don't do it, nobody else can pick up the slack" in advocating for roads, he said. "I told [the governor] I thought it was bad policy and I didn't want to vote for it, but I was also going to keep an open mind and speak with my colleagues and, at the end of the day, I was going to cast my vote for what I thought would bring the best result to Utah."

If he's needed, Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, has told leaders he will fly back from the National Conference of State Legislatures in Boston this week, but leaders aren't counting his vote toward the 21, and he isn't expected to have to return.

Senate Budget Chairman Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, will also be out of the state, visiting family, but he opposes the legislation and supports the governor's veto.

"I don't like earmarking like this. I agree completely with the governor," he said. "To tie our hands this way with a statute when we don't know what is going to happen in December is not good policy." —

Online

O Read SB229 online › http://bit.ly/kv6HXb.