Don't look for changes anytime soon in how state vehicles are used by top government officials, even though gas prices continue to climb — and so does the cost to taxpayers.

Even if state lawmakers were willing to take another look at the long-standing policy of assigning cars to top elected and appointed officials for both professional and personal use, it's not clear there's support for doing away with the perk.

About as far as anyone seems willing to go is Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s request that his cabinet consider carefully the trips they make in state-owned vehicles, including airplanes, "in light of fuel prices and consumption issues," his spokeswoman, Tammy Kikuchi, said.

The governor's message, delivered at his monthly cabinet meeting Friday, was "let's review the use and ensure it's only essential travel," Kikuchi said. He stopped short of issuing any formal directive, however.

Other governors, including Jeb Bush of Florida, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Bill Richardson of New Mexico, have responded to concerns about the effect of recent hurricanes on the nation's fuel supplies by giving up their SUVs.

Huntsman, who is driven by his security detail in a late-model Chevrolet Suburban, hasn't gone that far. The governor's office did, however, recently release a list of fuel-saving tips to the public, such as not exceeding the speed limit.

Nor is Huntsman pushing for his commissioner of public safety, Robert Flowers, to move from the St. George area to the Wasatch Front to cut his commute. Flowers has put 35,000 miles on his state vehicle in the past year, more than anyone else given a car for personal use.

Flowers said he rents an apartment in the Salt Lake area where he stays Monday through Friday, traveling home to Santa Clara only on weekends. Should there be an emergency while he's in southern Utah, Flowers said he'll return right away.

Or the commissioner can fly back to Salt Lake in a state plane, as he did for the arrival of evacuees from areas hit by Hurricane Katrina. That, Flowers said, is the only time a state plane was sent to get him.

He said he committed to Huntsman that his commute "would never be a problem and it never has been. . . . I told the governor, 'You wouldn't have to tell me I would have to move up here if it were compromising the job.' "

Kikuchi said Flowers "is the public safety commissioner for the entire state. When he is traveling between his home and his office, he is on duty." She said it was helpful to have Flowers in southern Utah to deal with the flooding and fires there earlier this year.

The governor's own transition team advised that Flowers "show his commitment to the department by relocating his home to the Wasatch Front," calling his current residence a concern "especially if air traffic and ground mobility were restricted by a major event."