Budget dominates as topic at annual Republican women's luncheon

CENTERVILLE -- The state budget, or the lack of some of it, dominated the talk Wednesday at the Davis County Republican Women's annual appreciation luncheon for area lawmakers.

The event, held in the Centerville City Council Chambers, drew a crowd of about 30 people and featured brief remarks by five Davis lawmakers.

The GOP women's group presented each lawmaker and each county-elected official in attendance with a bouquet of flowers.

"This next year is going to be a challenge again," Sen. Dan Liljenquist, R-Centerville, said of the 2010 Legislative session and the cuts that will have to be made to balance it.

"We are looking at being between $750 million to $800 million down," Liljenquist said.

But the one-term Republican, who represents the central portion of the county, says he promises to watch over how state dollars are spent.

"We all need a government we can afford," Liljenquist said.

Other lawmakers also addressed the state budget and current economy.

"We had to cut a billion dollars (last session), and we did it," said Rep. Julie Fisher, R-Fruit Heights.

Fisher said she will continue to look for ways to cut the budget in staving off any potential tax increase.

In her summer campaign for the open Senate seat in District 22, which Sen. Stuart Adams, R-Layton captured, Fisher said she heard from district delegates a resounding message of no more taxes.

Davis County residents have expressed that they do not want nationalized health care, she said. And if the federal government will stay out of the way of the state, Fisher said, she is confident the state will address its own health care concerns and be a model to the rest of the nation.

Adams said when he left the House of Representatives in 2006, lawmakers were talking about taking the sales tax off food and offering bonuses to teachers. He said discussion was dictated by the economy.

That is where the state is now, talking about a budget that is being dictated by the economy, Adams said, and for that reason the state needs to look at efforts to grow the economy.

"I think we're kind of hitting bottom now," said Rep. Curt Oda, R-Clearfield.

The state of Utah is in the best position of any state to recover from this national downturn in the economy, Oda said.

However, the longtime conservative warned the crowd: "Save as much as you can, and use your savings as little as possible."

Rep. Becky Edwards, R-Bountiful, said she anticipates next year's Legislative session to be about "budget, budget, budget."