A strong economy is key to growth and progress in Utah. It is the foundation upon which all other priorities rest. Since announcing his bid for governor in September 2003, Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. has intently focused on creating meaningful policy solutions to assist with the growing demands of the present day while preparing future generations for a better tomorrow. As a businessman, Huntsman felt a top priority in his Administration would be strengthening Utah's economy to create an increased flow of revenue to provide adequate resources necessary to support key initiatives.Utah's economy leading up to and including 2004 was filled with varying economic pressures. Among those strains w...
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Teaching must be reinforced as being among the most noble of pursuits. We must compensate fairly those who inspire our next generation of Utahns. If we hope to produce first-rate students, we must have first-rate teachers. As I travel the State, I constantly seek input regarding our education needs from parents, teachers and students. The responses I receive are as persuasive as they are unanimous: we must provide our teachers with a decent and competitive compensation package - one that includes not only an increase in salary, but also targeted financial incentives. Educational excellence begins with the recruitment, retention and commitment of teachers who are passionate about educating ou...
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Today, there are over 306,000 Utahans without health insurance. This means that nearly 12% of our population struggles to provide for the healthcare needs of themselves and their families. Instead of talking about health care reform we need to be discussing health system reform. This effort needs to spread beyond our traditional notions of what healthcare reform should be. We must think strategically of ways that we can not only increase efficiencies and lower costs, but also improve care. We must stop kidding ourselves that those who are uninsured are simply not receiving health care. They are receiving care, but they are receiving too little, too late - and typically in settings such as em...
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On the energy front, Utah is uniquely positioned to assist in meeting the future needs of our State and nation. A clean, diverse, secure mix of energy resources is essential to maintain Utah's quality of life and economic development. Governor Huntsman has established programs and objectives to accomplish that goal. In May 2006, Governor Huntsman, in conjunction with a state law sponsored by Representative Hunsaker, charged state agencies to improve energy efficiency in state buildings by 20% by 2015, and by example to private sector business and citizens. In May2007, Governor Huntsman, again working with Representative Hunsaker, extended the energy efficiency goal to state vehicle ...
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