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Utah Tomorrow Strategic Planning Committee

MINUTES OF THE

UTAH TOMORROW STRATEGIC PLANNING COMMITTEE

September 9, 1997 - 1:00 p.m. - Room State Capitol
        

Members Present:
    Sen. LeRay McAllister, Co-chair
    Rep. Afton Bradshaw, Co-chair
    Sen. Joseph L. Hull    
    Rep. Beverly A. Evans
    Rep. Daniel Tuttle
    Mr. Brad Barber
    Marsha Millet for Mayor Tom Dolan
    Mr. Gene Moser
    LeAnn Lamb for Dr. Dianne Nielson
    Commissioner Kent Peterson
    Mr. Ted Stewart
    

Members Absent:
    Sen. Craig Taylor
    Mr. Daniel Becker
    Mr. Kim Burningham
    Mr. Gary Carlston
Staff Present:
    John Q. Cannon,
        Research Analyst
    James L. Wilson,
        Associate General Counsel
    Wendy Bangerter,
        Secretary

     Note: A list of others present and a copy of materials distributed in the meeting are on file in the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel.

1.    Call to Order

    Sen. McAllister called the meeting to order at 1:10 p.m. He announced that Gary Carlston would replace Corrine Hill on the committee. He excused Dan Becker and Kim Burningham. He introduced LeAnn Lamb, representing Dianne Nielsen and Marsha Millet, representing Mayor Dolan.
    

2.    Committee Business

MOTION:    Mr. Kent Peterson made a motion to approve the minutes of the November 7, 1996 meeting. The motion passed by unanimous vote.
    
3.    Role of Utah Tomorrow

    Sen. McAllister expressed the need and desire to have more legislative support for the recommendations of the Utah Tomorrow Strategic Planning Committee. He and Rep. Bradshaw recently met with Pres. Beattie and Speaker Brown to get their input regarding Utah Tomorrow. Sen. McAllister said that the President and Speaker expressed concerns regarding Utah Tomorrow, and they made some suggestions of ways to get a more positive reaction from legislators. Sen. McAllister emphasized leadership's desire that this committee be preserved, and noted Utah Tomorrow has played an important and positive role in evaluations of this state and its performance.

    Rep. Bradshaw detailed Speaker Brown's concerns about Utah Tomorrow, 1) the committee's push to use Utah Tomorrow in budget deliberations, and 2) the committee's request that bills be measured against the strategic plan. They recommended more involvement of the individual legislators. They suggested that a good solution might be to divide the annual report and assign relevant sections to a related standing committee. This standing committee would review it early in the session, discuss it, and see what changes they might like to make.

    Sen. McAllister stated if the Legislature considered this report early enough in the session, their recommendations could be brought back to this committee, discussed, and acted upon. He suggested seeking Governor Leavitt's reaction before proceeding. He stated the objectives should be to identify where the state wants to be and then have the legislators focus on those goals as they formulate legislation. Sen. McAllister noted that Pres. Beattie feels the greatest contribution this committee can make is the measurement of progress in Utah. He stated the need to offer each of the agencies the opportunity to react to recommendations.
    
    Sen. Hull stated it is important to go to the standing committees and perhaps the appropriations subcommittees too. It is important to have the executive branch present to be involved in the dialogue with the different committees.
    
    Ted Stewart noted the document is not valuable unless it is used both by the Legislature and the executive branch. He recommended that each committee study it early in the session and meet with executive directors of agencies to establish a direction and make it a consistent part of what the Legislature considers each year.
    
    Rep. Bradshaw clarified that only the section in the report that applies to each committee is what is being proposed to be taken to that committee for input and approval.
    
    Sen. McAllister noted that performance measures will need to be addressed and completed as much as possible in the next two months. He voiced the need to alert the executive branch and let them make recommendations to this committee so the document is as up to date as possible. He suggested distributing to each committee their section before the next legislative session so they could study it.                 
    
    Sen. McAllister noted there may be some responsibilities and interest that fall under more than one committee's focus. He suggested staff review the document and make suggestions for division.
    
    LeAnn Lamb stated the Department of Environmental Quality has found this document to be valuable, and they feel it needs to be preserved. She suggested giving each agency notice to be prepared to present their goals and suggested changes to Utah Tomorrow.
    
    Andrea Olsen and Mark Bedell, Governor's Office of Planning and Budget, said they have already notified the agencies that they will have an opportunity to present their changes to this committee, and they are aware of some that could be ready to do so within a month.
    
    Sen. McAllister recommended meeting with the agencies in October and November, sending out a document for the legislators' review in December, meeting with the standing committees in January during the session, and printing an approved document by February.
    
     The committee discussed the benefits of not sponsoring a resolution this year, but of taking time to hear input regarding each section of the document.
            
MOTION:    Sen. Hull moved that the Utah Tomorrow Strategic Planning Committee not sponsor a resolution for the 1998 session, but review the recommendations of the agencies and the standing committees. The motion passed unanimously.

    Rep. Evans stated she supports that motion because it will avoid being caught up in semantics and the document can then be used as a planning document, as it was intended.
    
    Sen. Hull noted that each standing committee would be expected to review the document and give it their formal approval by a vote of the committee. Any modifications they wish to make should come before the Utah Tomorrow Strategic Planning Committee.
    
    Sen. McAllister stated he would like to seek President Beattie's, Speaker Brown's, and Governor Leavitt's reactions to this motion and proposal.
    
    The committee discussed a meeting schedule that would include meeting twice in October for full days in order to be able to hear from each of the state agencies. They set October 16, and October 21, 1997 as the meeting dates.
    
    Rep. Evans emphasized that agencies need to have measurable goals and objectives, and that they be asked to come prepared to help this committee develop performance measures that are adequate and fair.

MOTION:    Rep. Evans made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

    The meeting was adjourned at 2:40 p.m.
    

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