Governor Huntsman initially supported the Stimulus package, also known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. He submitted a wish list for stimulus projects prior to the passage of the legislation which proposed some $14 billion in construction and transportation projects.
After the passage of the legislation and the content of the package was established, Governor Huntsman stated that in hindsight there were some fundamental flaws with the legislation. He stated that those problems were that the the stimulus was not large enough and did not provide a large enough stimulus effect. He states that he would have liked to have seen a payroll tax exemption or a cut in the corporate tax for small and medium-sized businesses for something like three years. He stated that those who did not like the stimulus did not have to take funds from it.
In later interviews, Governor Huntsman explained that the statements relating to the size of the stimulus were menat to call for greater tax cuts.
Initial Projects
In December of 2008, Governor Huntsman put forth $14 billion in proposal projects that could be funded through a stimulus that was rumored to be forming in the Democratic Congress with the election of a Democratic President. Included in this "wish list" were $11.7 billion in highway funding for Interstate 15 in Utah County, the Mountain View Corridor in western Salt Lake County, and upgrades on treacherous U.S. Highway 6 in east-central Utah.
In addition to the road projects, Governor Huntsman asked for $2.2 billion for rail and transit projects, including $1.5 billion to expand FrontRunner commuter rail and $310 million for a TRAX light-rail line to Salt Lake City International Airport. Governor Huntsman made the following statements concerning the projects.
These ventures would provide concrete stimulus to our economy, resulting in positive impacts to Utah families. This is a tremendous opportunity to fast-forward work on critical infrastructure projects and create a focus on Utah's effort to develop more [natural-gas] fueling sites throughout the state.
Utah Now Interview
In January of 2009, Governor Huntsman appeared on Utah Now and discussed a possible stimulus and the effects it would have on the states. He states that Utah can balance its books without a federal bailout, but would take whatever assitance was available.
DAN BAMMES, KUER: Thanks for joining us, Governor Huntsman. Upcoming legislative session, could wind up being the toughest of your tenure so far because of the budget situation. There's some expectation that President Elect Obama will push for an economic development package, or a bailout package, that is aimed directly at helping state governments through their budget situations. How important is that going to be to your budget proposals, and are you taking a chance if you depend on it?
GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN: Thanks, Dan. Happy new year to you. This is an issue that all states are concerned about, and obviously looking forward to. It's a moving target, quite frankly. The size and the substance of the offering.
All I can tell you is we can balance our books in this state without a federal stimulus package. I think some states are not able to say that, and some are absolutely reliant upon a federal bailout in order to close out their books in a balanced fashion. That said, we don't want to lose out on whatever the federal government might be offering. Whether it's targeting education and early childhood development programs, or technology in the classroom, or infrastructure, whether that's defined as roads and bridges or electricity distribution equipment, or even wiring some of our rural areas. Intellectual infrastructure, if you will.
So there's a lot being talked about, it's probably, last I've seen, $275 billion in tax cuts, probably three to $400 billion in government spending, and then I suspect there's going to be a good look at the FMAP rate, at Medicaid, and that will, of course, be of benefit to our state, along with every other state if they allow us a little bit of flexibility in that area.
So while we are not reliant upon a federal bailout in order to balance our books, this would be considered a type of stimulus that would we benefit from in this state. It would allow us a little more fungibility with dollars that we don't have, quite frankly. And that would be a welcome relief in a year like this.
Politico Interview
In February of 2009, Governor Huntsman was interviewed by Politico and asked about his view on the stimulus and whether or not the state of Utah would take stimulus funds. He states that the size of the stimulus is appropriate
Q: What is your take on the stimulus? Will you take all the money?
A: It’s easy to criticize the bill and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to take the money. It’s pretty simple.
I guess in hindsight we can all say that there were some fundamental flaws with it. It probably wasn’t large enough and, number two, there probably wasn’t enough stimulus effect. For example, a payroll tax exemption or maybe even a cut in the corporate tax…for small and medium-sized businesses for three years, for example.
We will take the money.
Q: How long before you see the stimulus money kick in?
A: I’m not sure it’s the stimulus money that will necessarily allow the economy to recover…It will help to fortify our budgets, frankly, to ensure that there isn’t as much backsliding in the areas of education and healthcare, for example. But economic recovery must be earned. And it will be earned by entrepreneurs and it will be earned by small businesses.
Q: You said the stimulus wasn’t large enough. In addition to the tax cuts that you mentioned, are there other measures you would have liked to see included in the bill?
A: Well, the size of about a trillion dollars was floated by Mark Zandi, who’s a very respected economist. I tend to believe what he is saying about the size of the package, which didn’t necessarily hit the mark in terms of size.
George Stephanopoulis Interview
In Mayof 2011, Governor Huntsman was interviewed by George Stephanopoulis. He is asked about taking stimulus funds when he was the Governor of Utah and vocally supporting the plan.
George Stephanopoulos: Let's talk some domestic issues. A lot of Republicans -- again, Republican primary voters -- are going to wonder about your decision as governor of Utah to take the stimulus funds, President Obama's stimulus funds. And when you were asked about it, you suggested that one of the problems with the stimulus is that it wasn't big enough. Is that what you still believe?
Jon Huntsman: If you read on in that interview, you will find that I was specifically referring to corporate tax cuts, payroll tax deductions, and focusing the stimulus in infrastructure projects that would improve our economic future.
George Stephanopoulos: But you also aligned yourself with Mark Zandi, who said the stimulus ... had to be about a trillion dollars.
Jon Huntsman: That was his take. And my take was, let's stimulate business. Let's look at tax cuts, let's look at payroll tax deductions. If you read on in the interview, that's exactly what I said. But more than that, George, a specific focus as opposed to just giving dollars to states. And let's face it, every governor took it.
Mark Sanford in South Carolina was the only one who stood up and said, ‘I'm not going to take it,’ and in the end, he ended up taking it too. We as governors, our states, we all make contributions to Washington. And when stimulus dollars are coming back, you ultimately found that every governor took those dollars.
George Stephanopoulos: So no apologies for taking the stimulus funds if I'm hearing correctly, and you might have wanted more stimulus, but it would have been more tax cuts.
Jon Huntsman: A regret that it was not properly focused around that, which would really stimulate the economy, tax cuts, and it was not focused around enhancing our infrastructure, and preparing ourselves for the future.
Money Received by Utah
As of May of 2011, the state of Utah received roughly $2,224,000,000 from the stimulus according to Recovery.org.
