Utah's governor is not ready to throw his support behind any specific idea but he is intrigued by the concept of paying a family-sustaining wage, something above the $5.15 hourly federal minimum.

"I'm looking to be educated on what it means to embrace a living wage," Huntsman said Thursday during his monthly KUED news conference. "I'd like to look into it."

Huntsman first mentioned his support during a radio interview last week, which surprised living-wage supporters such as George Neckel.

"I know that the governor is very pro-business and that a lot of people in the business community seem to be very out of touch with the realities of working families," said Neckel, of Utah Jobs With Justice. "But I also know that Gov. Huntsman is a very compassionate guy."

Neckel scheduled Monday's meeting and he plans on discussing "what strategies might work to solve the problem of working poverty," he said. He expects five other living-wage supporters, including a representative of the Communication Workers of America union and the Catholic Diocese, to attend the afternoon sit-down.

Huntsman said any living-wage proposal would have to span the state, since he is not interested in creating "a patchwork of city and county rates."

Huntsman signed a bill this year that struck down Salt Lake City's living-wage initiative - a policy giving preference to contractors who pay their workers a sustainable wage, estimated to be $9.06 per hour with medical benefits.

Neckel said his group pushed for the Salt Lake City policy "because we didn't really see another way to raise the issue."

But now he backs Huntsman's idea. "A statewide approach to solving the problem would be a much better solution," Neckel said.