Missing were the references to Utah being ranked as one of the best states for business. Instead, Governor Gary Herbert delivered a soaring and forward-looking State of the State speech Wednesday night.
Herbert, who has described his job as the “cheerleader in chief” for Utah’s booming economy, left all of that behind on in favor of a look at where the state has been to ascertain where we may be going.
“For each of the past eight years, I have come before you to talk about policy and priorities. I usually tout our economic growth and urge increased funding for education,” said Herbert. “As I have given some thought about this special occasion, I have felt inclined to use this time a little bit differently.”
Herbert was able to sneakily urge lawmakers to focus on a few important priorities by framing them as things they already knew they had to do over the next few weeks.
“You already know we need to prioritize funding for the kind of learning that educates the hearts and minds of our children so they can flourish in a global market,” he said.
He also said lawmakers “already knew” they need to update the tax code, keep tax rates low and focus on infrastructure and transportation funding.
While tackling those priorities may be difficult tasks, Herbert urged lawmakers to focus on the good that comes from hard work.
Herbert said the 1917 Legislature passed 131 bills, which included creating the workmen’s compensation program, expanding roads and tackled securities fraud. He also mentioned that legislature passed a statewide ban on alcohol three years before nationwide prohibition went into effect.
Using that past as prologue, Herbert asked lawmakers to think about how their work this year will be viewed a century from now.
“I would like to believe our work will have a meaningful impact on the state not only today, but will lay a foundation for the well being of our children and great-grandchildren,” he said. “I have become increasingly concerned about the kind of world we are creating for our children and for our grandchildren.”
Herbert also discussed how Utahns have stepped up to address problems ranging from helping rural schools to aiding those affected by the devastating hurricane that ravaged Puerto Rico to the Operation Rio Grande program to tackle homelessness in downtown Salt Lake City.
“The next 42 days are going to be tough. There will be late nights, hard decisions and some bruised egos,” he said. “If we do our job right today, Utah in the future will still be the greatest place to live, where the hardest problems are solved side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder, no credit, no blame.”
