Utah to ‘revitalize’ – State must pay bills looming for education, Huntsman warns

Utah’s economic engine is revving, but the state faces fallout from a booming population, the potential closure of Hill Air Force Base and high energy prices, according to a new report.

With more than 50,000 births in Utah in 2004 and a wave of school-age children expected in the coming decade, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is placing economic revitalization at the top of his to-do list.

"The reason the economy is No. 1 is because we’ve got to pay the bills for education," Huntsman said Thursday. "I don’t believe in just taking a static pie and taking more one year for this, more another year for something else. I believe fundamentally in expanding the pie. The only way you can do that is through economic revitalization."

Utah ranks as the seventh fastest growing population in the nation, according to the 2005 Economic Report to the Governor. The state’s population grew 2.3 percent in 2004, more than twice the national rate.

By Dave Anderton
Deseret Morning News

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