This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. hailed the state's vibrant economy and growth, but challenged lawmakers Tuesday to do more to help the Utah's uninsured and invest in Utah's schools.

It was Huntsman's first State of the State speech given in the House of Representatives chamber, which closed in 2004 for a $227 million restoration project.

The governor did not offer many details and did not offer sweeping new policy proposals, but focused on the two items - education and health-care reform - that have topped his agenda for the 2008 legislative session.

"In Utah, there are now more than 300,000 people without insurance," Huntsman said. "In a state that prides itself on practical solutions, this issue is crying out for a fix."

Huntsman is working with Rep. David Clark, R-Santa Clara, and Sen. Sheldon Killpack, R-Syracuse, to win support for legislation that would take some initial steps, like targeted tax credits, to expanding health-care access and create a task force to study how best to insure more people.

The initial goal of universal coverage has been abandoned for now, after opposition from conservative legislators.

"This is not just about mandates or government intervention," he said. "This is about personal responsibility and making an effort to improve our own health by making better decisions."

Huntsman also reiterated his push for better pay for Utah's schoolteachers. For years, Utah schools have been saddled with the lowest per-pupil spending and largest class sizes in the nation.

"This year our state was 400 teachers short of our schools' needs, which doubled last year's shortage. This trend is increasingly corrosive," he said. "It is time we put educators back on a pedestal. To do this we must improve two things: compensation and capacity."

Huntsman has proposed a 7 percent increase in the state's per-pupil spending, $26 million for teacher recruitment and retention aimed at graduating 1,000 more teachers a year, and targeted salary increases for math and science teachers.

He said students are given too many standardized tests, which take teachers away from their job of teaching. And he advocated a year-round education model, to provide supplemental instruction to students who need it and to make more efficient use of resources.

"We have students, buildings and teachers sitting idle for three months every year. Based on any business model, this would be unacceptable," he said. "The global economy doesn't take summers off, neither should we."

The general thrust of Huntsman's address was embraced by legislators on both sides of the aisle, who were hard-pressed to find fault with his priorities. The specifics of the plans, particularly the complex health-care-reform issue, will take time to negotiate, legislative leaders said.

"I am pretty pleased he gave specifics where specifics were warranted, but in the areas we're still working on, he gave broad" suggestions, said Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem. "He wants to be part of the play, but he doesn't want to be the only player."

House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, said Huntsman set a course he would like to see the state take, and "we'll work to see if we can move in that direction."

He did express concern that there wasn't more attention focused on how to keep the economy growing as the national economy shows signs of lagging. He compared it to a bicycle and said "we need to keep pedaling the economy."

House Minority Leader Brad King, D-Price, acknowledged there is little separation between the goals the governor set and those the Democrats want to see.

"What can you say against economic development, education, air quality and health insurance?" he said.

The differences will arise between Democrats and Republicans on how to meet those goals as the 45-day legislative session proceeds.

In years past, Huntsman has gone on the road for his State of the State address, which he gave at the Utah State Armory, at Washington Elementary School in Bountiful, and at Utah's first territorial capital in Fillmore.

But the governor called the building "awe-inspiring," and said it symbolizes Utahns aspirations to "reach higher."

Nobody represents the state better, he said, than Mario Capecchi, a University of Utah scientist who was awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize for his breakthroughs in genetic research.

Huntsman praised the heroism of two soldiers from different eras - George Wahlen, a Marine whose heroism at Iwo Jima during World War II earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor; and Utah Army National Guard Sgt. George Ewell, who flew 59 combat missions over Iraq and Afghanistan before being shot six times, leaving him legally blind and deaf.

Also in the audience Tuesday was Wendy Black, the wife of Dale Black, one of three men killed trying to rescue six coal miners trapped when the Crandall Canyon mine collapsed in August.

"We love you and promise your husband's sacrifice, and that of all the miners and their families, is not forgotten," he said.

A mine safety commission the governor appointed after the disaster endorsed a state review of coal mine plans and increased funds to train miners and engineers, but balked at resurrecting the state's defunct mine-inspection program.