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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah Gov. Gary Herbert says he drew a line in the sand his first year in office to oppose any new tax increases.
But now that the legislative session is over, the Republican appears ready to cross the line he drew.
Herbert has indicated he'll let an increase in the tobacco tax become law, defending the action as necessary in a year lawmakers were willing to cut public education funding more than he was willing to stomach.
The tax hike is just one example of how a tough budget year made it difficult for Herbert to make significant progress on his top three priorities -- improving education, rebuilding the economy by avoiding tax hikes and supporting energy development.
"The budget is the No. 1 issue -- it is about the money," Herbert said Thursday as lawmakers prepared to pass an $11.1 billion budget that is about $300 million less than the current year's. "You have to prioritize and I prioritized that education needed to be kept at the funding levels we're currently at."
Even with the tax hike, funding for education will be about $10 million less than what's in the current year's budget.
Herbert outlined his gubernatorial agenda in an August inauguration speech, linking a well-educated work force to a strong economy that will largely depend on development of energy resources.
Any tax increase, Herbert frequently said in the past seven months, would be one of the worst things state leaders could do at a time the economy is slowly beginning to recover.
"We simply can't spend what we don't have, and the tax-and-spend mindset that is so prevalent in Washington is not acceptable here in Utah," Herbert said during his State of the State address in January.
The $1 tax hike on a pack of cigarettes Herbert will let stand will result in a $53 million loss to Utah businesses, according to estimates from the Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst.
Herbert called the tobacco tax hike the least onerous of all the proposals he had heard and reiterated that income taxes won't be raised this year.
Herbert, who faces a special election this fall to fill out the remainder of former Gov. Jon Huntsman's term, maintains that by not raising any other taxes he was able to make progress on economic development.
"One of the things we've done to help create jobs is not raise taxes," Herbert told reporters on Thursday, the last day of the legislative session.
Herbert said his top priority this year was protecting public education and that he's accomplished that.
Democrats say otherwise, noting that Utah already spends less per student than any other state and has the nation's largest class sizes.
Under the budget Herbert has said he'll sign into law, Utah will spend less per student than it currently does and class sizes will grow more.
Another issue Democrats frequently took issue with was the bevy of states' rights legislation lawmakers passed, including some intended to challenge the federal government in court. Herbert has already signed one bill into law exempting guns made and sold here from federal weapons regulations that state lawyers acknowledge has little chance of succeeding in court.
Herbert indicated Thursday he's likely to sign another bill allowing the state to use eminent domain to take federal land, which state lawyers also say will likely lead to a doomed court battle.
To defend the bill, lawmakers have set aside $3 million. Democrats have said the money is better spent on education.
"I'm sure that there's a lot of ways to spend money -- I would never say that this is one better than another," Herbert said. "Part of the process is state governments need to stand up and make decisions and the Legislature in their wisdom decided this is an area they wanted to stand up and be heard."
Herbert said if the law is as bad as some suggest, it would get thrown out early in court and wouldn't take $3 million to defend. Bill supporters say the point is to keep appealing the law to the U.S. Supreme Court. They contend that $3 million is a small price to pay because if the court rules in Utah's favor, it could result in billions of dollars for state schools from the development of energy rich parcels of land.
But when asked about how he encouraged energy development this session, Herbert didn't mention the use of eminent domain.
"What we have to show is we've created the governor's balanced resource commission," Herbert said.
The group is tasked with making recommendations to Herbert on public lands use and environmental issues. Creating it didn't require legislative approval.
Herbert's Democratic rival, Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon, said the advisory group is a good start, but Herbert should have focused more on supporting a renewable energy economy.
"I don't know that I saw a lot of bills involving that," Corroon said. "We have state laws in place that prevent Utah from being a leader in the renewable energy economy. We have companies that don't come here because Utah isn't as progressive as our surrounding states."
Among other things, Corroon said he would have been more aggressive about supporting a bill sponsored by GOP Sen. Wayne Niederhauser to allow local governments to create voluntary assessment areas for renewable energy production and energy efficiency upgrades. The bill never got a vote on the Senate floor.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
