If you’ve heard one State of the State address, you’ve probably heard them all. Guess what: The state of the state is strong and it’s getting better.
The self-congratulatory nature should come as no surprise. No student who has graded his or her own work has ever ended up with a “C” and no governor has ever said, “the state of the state is kinda... meh.”
The feel-good pep talks are really made possible by decisions and policies put in place years earlier, sometimes decades, which got me thinking: What will the governor in 2038 (who is probably going to be me), be taking credit for? Or will it be criticism dished out because lawmakers didn’t tackle the tough issues.
Then Gov. Gary Herbert went and stole my idea and built his 2018 State of the State around it.
OK, so he looked 101 years back and wondered of the Legislature that met in 1917, “Were they thinking how their work would be remembered 100 years into the future?”
“If we do our jobs right, 100 years from now our great-grandchildren will dust off the ‘Laws of 2018’ and they will recognize that what we did together over these next few weeks laid the foundation for their extraordinary successes in the Utah of the year 2118,” Herbert said.
And tip of the hat to him, because he’s absolutely right. Laws should be made, with an eye toward the next generation, not next year or, worse, the next election. And Utah will have some challenges in the years ahead.
So I asked Utah legislators to finish this sentence on behalf of the governor in 2038 (again, most likely me): “The state of the state is __________ because leaders 20 years ago did (or should have done) _____________.”
For the Republican members the focus was, as you might expect, on a conservative fiscal approach. Rep. Stephen Handy, for example, contrasts Utah’s Legislature — which manages to pass a balanced budget and not shut down government (a task that is, obviously, easier when there’s only one party) — with the current situation in Congress.
“I’m so grateful with this mess in Washington that Utah is forced to balance its budget and put something away for a rainy day,” said Handy, R-Layton. “Because we’re riding high in this tremendous economy right now, but the downturn will come, and nobody knows when, but it will come and I hope Utah will be better prepared when that comes and we have to tighten our belts.”
Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, said it would be an ability to adapt that will be this Legislature’s legacy in the 2038: “The state of the state is strong today because in 2018 we reformed our tax structure to address a changing economy.”
Whether lawmakers actually follow through on that remains in question. The Trump tax bill threw a wrench into Utah’s reform efforts and the Utah Tax Commission is still sorting through the impacts. Preliminary estimates are that Utahns will end up paying between $20 million and $85 million more in income taxes next year, although more precise figures are expected to be released Thursday.
House Speaker Greg Hughes, R-Draper, sees on opportunity for the state to shape its future with the development of a inland port — a massive hub for shipping that could make Utah the crossroads of the West. The plan would be to construct this port in the northwest end of Salt Lake City, between the airport and Magna.
“It’s a big vision for maybe a city by itself to take on,” Hughes said. “I think you need some heft on a bigger scale to achieve something. … That’s the one that’s a crossroads for me.”
It’s a notion that has been talked about since at least 1987, when a task force studied the concept, but it is getting increased attention and, Hughes believes, could take off with help from the state.
Second on the speaker’s to-do list would be an expansion of transit to the point cars are no longer the first choice — or even second or third — for people who need to get from place to place.
Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox is aspirational in his vision: “The state of the state is beautiful because we decided to live like Matt [Hillyard].” Matt is Sen. Lyle Hillyard’s son, a friend to everyone, and a beloved fixture in the Capitol who died earlier this month after a life with Down syndrome.
https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2018/01/08/gehrke-why-matt-hillyard-was-the-most-universally-beloved-figure-at-the-utah-capitol/
For Democrats, like Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City, the vision of the future is not so rosy because leaders today are punting on the big issues.
“The state of the state may seem bleak,” Dabakis predicts. “Turns out climate change was real and our beautiful Great Salt Lake has dried up and raging dust storms devastate our lives daily. But since the Trump era’s abolition of porn, it doesn’t feel so bad. … The air may be toxic, but the addition of oxygen tank refill stations on every corner of Salt Lake City has greatly improved the quality of life!”
Dabakis hits on real concerns, with his typical Dabakis flair, because growth will present serious challenges. By 2038, Utah is projected to have roughly 4.4 million people, with about 2.8 million of them crammed into Salt Lake, Davis and an exploding Utah County.
The state will need about a million new jobs to keep people working. Schools will be coping with 120,000 new students in classrooms, according to projections from the Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah.
That’s nearly as many as are now enrolled in the Granite and Jordan School districts combined and it means another 5,000-plus teachers and an equal number of classrooms, just to keep Utah’s classes from getting even more crowded than they already are.
So Herbert was right to strike the chord he did in his address and hopefully policymakers take him up on the challenge. Because even if the state of the state is, indeed, strong, we didn’t get to that point by chance, and it will take vision to keep us on that course.