Governor committed to working with House to give Healthy Utah 2.0 fair shot
SALT LAKE CITY (Feb. 26, 2015) – Gov. Gary R. Herbert is committed to working with the House of Representatives to come to an agreement on the Healthy Utah 2.0 bill (SB164) passed by the Senate yesterday. If those negotiations prove to be fruitless, the governor will consider all his options, though we have not specified support for any specific action and we do not have, at this point, a comprehensive list of available options.
Earlier today during his monthly news conference, the governor was asked about potential actions to move forward with Healthy Utah 2.0. In response, the governor said the following:
“We’ll look at any and every opportunity we have to get to the right point. Clearly we want to negotiate with our colleagues in the House and see if we can’t have common sense and wisdom prevail. If there are questions we have, let’s see if we can answer the questions.”
In response to a question about using other bills as political leverage the governor responded:
“I don’t think gamesmanship is good politics. We ought to all look for what is the best outcome and be statesmen. We ought to stand tall in our positions, whatever we decide them to be on the right or on the left. We ought to say here’s my justification for it and let the chips fall where they may. But we ought to be open and transparent about it.”
The governor firmly believes the legislative process should be followed for a bill of this significance, including committee hearings where the public voice can be heard.
