Is pay too low in Utah?

Utah needs more than just new jobs — it needs high-paying jobs to reverse the trend of falling wages in recent years, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Scott M. Matheson Jr. told members of the Wasatch Economic Forum this past week.

Speaking at a forum luncheon in the Alta Club, Matheson said Utah's top priority should be developing a long-term funding plan for public education, which expects to get hit with record student enrollments in the next decade.

Economic development, he added, goes hand-in-hand with a quality public education system. "Economic development, jobs and public education are so interrelated that you can't talk about one without the other."

Utah's challenge in economic development, Matheson said, is getting high-paying, high-quality jobs. "Our wages in Utah continue to drop as a percentage of the national average," he said. "It will continue to be hard to keep our children here if our wage structure continues to drop as it has done."

The Beehive State has some natural advantages in attracting industries, he said, including a better quality of life than many other states and better schools, but state government must put forth more effort to attract businesses. The state's school trust lands could be better managed to produce income for public schools, he said.

"It's remarkable for a state our size to have so much university research capacity, and we need to use that as our economic engine," Matheson said. "One of the ways to grow our economy is through a stronger research university infrastructure."

Utah needs to grow its economy in a focused, smart way while at the same time maintaining its quality of life, Matheson said. "One of our great advantages in the economic development arena is our quality of life. What we need to do is ensure opportunities for our children to receive quality education and have quality jobs so they can live here."

In explaining his stand on removal of the sales tax on food, Matheson said he could not see a fiscally responsible way to remove the tax without hurting state revenues.

Ensuring an adequate supply of water for the state is part of the quality-of-life equation, he said, adding a recent public opinion poll showed Utahns consider water the third most important issue facing the state. "The governor should play an active role in developing a water plan and aggressively protecting our water remaining in the Colorado River Compact."

Utah's water challenges in the future will be greater than in years past, and increased water conservation programs should be tied to future water development projects, Matheson said. "Water is our limiting resource, and while the drought has raised consciousness of water issues, we'll have another drought in the future."

---

E-mail: lweist@desnews.com