Huntsman - who recently signed a bill prohibiting cities from giving preference to contractors paying a "living wage" - told a KCPW radio audience on Monday that, "I believe in a living wage and I think we ought to have this discussion."
Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, who last year instituted a policy preferring contractors paying a living wage, said Friday he understands the governor may sometimes go along with legislation that he doesn't entirely agree with. But he said the bill Huntsman signed - SB139 - is "completely at odds" with support of a living wage.
Even so, Anderson said he welcomes the governor's interest in the issue. "The entire community needs to be involved in this dialogue," the mayor said.
Living wage proponents jumped at the chance to gain Huntsman's support.
"It's very smart on his part if he wants to support this," said Lorna Vogt, director of Utah Progressive Network, or UPNet. "We should go up [to the Capitol] and have a discussion about what it means."
Huntsman spokeswoman Tammy Kikuchi said the governor would "be open" to discussion. She avoided saying that Huntsman backed a specific living wage proposal, but said he supports the concept.
Kikuchi added that the governor signed SB139 because he didn't want a "patchwork" of different minimum wages in different communities - the same argument that sponsor Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, used for his bill, which passed along mostly party lines.
In Monday's interview, Bryan Schott asked Huntsman why he would support a living wage when the governor signed SB139. Huntsman said he didn't recall signing it.
"I'm not familiar with Howard Stephenson's bill. I will tell you there's probably more to that bill if we did sign it that went beyond the minimum wage," the governor said.
Actually, that was the main purpose. The bill specifically made Anderson's living wage executive order, or any subsequent ones, moot.
Research shows that in the Salt Lake City area it would take a wage of $9.06 per hour with medical benefits, or $10.56 without those benefits, for a person to live decently without government assistance.
