It's not clear yet if his budget will include tax cuts. "Tax cuts are not among the governor's priorities, but certainly if tax cuts are part of the package, then taking the sales tax off food would be the mechanism he would support," Roskelley said.

Huntsman, who is running for a second term in 2008, included a $100 million tax cut in the $10.7 billion budget he proposed last year. He succeeded in getting lawmakers to cut the state income-tax rate to 5 percent as part of a $220 million tax-cut package.

That compromise package also included cutting the sales tax on food as well as the general sales-tax rate. Lawmakers wanted — and got — a bigger and more extensive tax-cut package than the governor sought, something they will likely to push for again in 2008.

Pollster Dan Jones said the survey results are not surprising, since Utahns traditionally support spending on education over tax cuts. The governor, Jones said, is "very, very aware of the issues the public talks about and thinks about."

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