DALLAS — Utah must adjust to a growing population, environmental threats and the need to improve education while attracting new business, Gov. Gary Herbert told lawmakers in his state-of-the-state address Jan. 29.
"Utah is now the second-fastest growing state in the nation," Herbert told the Utah Legislature at the Capitol in Salt Lake City. "We now number over 2.9 million people, and our population is projected to nearly double in the next 35 years. This population growth impacts everything we do."
Education, which accounts for the lion's share of Herbert's proposed $13.3 billion budget, will add pressure to the state's finances in the future, the governor said.
"It costs us nearly $70 million per year in additional money just to pay for our new students," Herbert said, noting that nearly 70% of Utah's land is controlled by the federal government, generating no property taxes to help us pay for that growth.
"Because our ability to get all the dollars we need is limited, we need to be more innovative with the dollars we have to achieve our educational goals," he said.
Herbert also called for new initiatives to reduce the air pollution in the mountain-ringed Great Salt Lake area, home to most Utahns.
"We have already implemented a plan to rid our air of 100 tons of pollutants a day, and we now require industries to install new technology to eliminate an additional 4,600 tons of pollution per year," Herbert said. "I have further required state agencies to reduce travel, to restructure our entire fleet, prohibit idling in state vehicles, and we have provided transit passes to state employees at no extra cost to taxpayers."
Herbert called for new cleaner burning gasoline, incentives for lower-emission vehicles and limits on wood burning.
The governor also set a goal of increasing exports by $9 billion by the end of 2015.
