While Huntsman would tap nearly $150 million out of the current state Rainy Day fund, he plans on keeping around $270 million in the fund in case the current economic downturn draws out for more than a year or 18 months.

Sen. Pat Jones, D-Holladay, incoming Senate minority leader, said Huntsman "has made a good effort — spending some Rainy Day Fund, saving some of it, and trying to protect teachers and kids. I don't see him calling a special session so close to the general session."

Utah's failing economy means the end of recent state tax cuts. In 2006 Huntsman suggested a $60 million tax cut, lawmakers gave a $90 million cut. In 2007 the governor recommended a $100 million tax cut, and lawmakers gave a $220 million tax reduction. No general tax cuts were made in 2008.

Tax revenues will end up dropping a total of $720 million. Combine that with the $270 million already trimmed from state budgets earlier this year, and it's a record decline of some $1 billion in tax collections over a two-year span.

That's even more than the $700 million that lawmakers cut from budgets in the early part of the decade. And the current troubles are a far cry from Huntsman's own assessment a year ago, of the state's "continued prosperity and robust economy" he bragged of when he released his 2008-09 budget.

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