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SALT LAKE CITY — Gov. Gary Herbert said Thursday he would not support a gas tax increase as an alternative to the transportation funding bill he vetoed, an action lawmakers hope to override next week.
"Our fragile economy right now, I think, would not warrant a gas tax increase. It's not about a gas tax. I believe that's a red herring," Herbert said during the taping of his monthly news conference on KUED Channel 7.
Our fragile economy right now, I think, would not warrant a gas tax increase. It's not about a gas tax. I believe that's a red herring.
–Gov. Gary Herbert
Lawmakers announced this week they were holding a veto override session on May 6 on SB229, a bill passed by the 2011 Legislature that would set aside about 25 percent of future sales tax revenues for road construction.
The governor repeatedly criticized the bill, suggesting lawmakers were "just taking numbers out of the sky" without considering the impact on funding for other state needs, especially public and higher education.
"I just simply believe it's bad policy to earmark particularly this large a portion of our general fund budget to transportation," he said. "Earmarking one out of every four dollars potentially jeopardizes risking other priorities."
The call for an override session came after negotiations between the governor and legislative leaders failed to identify an acceptable alternative to the set aside that could have been approved in a special session.
Herbert said he wasn't trying to avoid an override vote because it was politically embarrassing. "No, not at all," he said. "What I want to have is good policy. If we can negotiate and get good policy, that's a good way to do it."
Although the governor faces re-election next year and has been called politically weak by a tea party organizer, he downplayed the impact of the friction with a Legislature led by his fellow Republicans.
"That's part of the process," he said of the rare override session. "That's what the public wants. They want me to play my role. They want the Legislature to play their role. We're not rubber stamps for each other."
The governor said he hopes his veto won't be overridden, even though legislative leaders say they have the two-thirds majority required in both the House and Senate.
"We don't twist anybody's arms. We use logic and persuasion, and facts and principle-based arguments," Herbert said. "We hope that will rule the day for our side. We'll see."
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Story written by Lisa Riley Roche with contributions from Richard Piatt.
