As for health care, the governor said it's "a troubling inconsistency" that the state is among the most advanced in the medical sciences while far too many Utahns cannot afford adequate health care.

More than 300,000 Utahns lack insurance, he said, an issue that "is crying out for a fix."

That fix won't come fast, though. Lawmakers are expected to act on a proposal that will provide a framework to get started on a major overhaul of the state's health care system, a multi-year process, according to Huntsman.

He sprinkled his speech with references to communities throughout the state, and recognized a number of accomplished Utahns including Nobel Prize winner Mario Capecchi and the state's only surviving Congressional Medal of Honor winner, Marine George Wahlen.

Utah Army National Guard Sgt. Gordon Ewell, who was left legally blind and deaf after being hit six times during the 59 combat missions he completed in Iraq, was also honored, as the governor called for the Ogden Veterans Nursing Home to be built.

"Hard work, geography, and history have dealt us a fortunate hand. Now it is up to 'We the people' to fulfill our destiny," Huntsman said, calling on everyone to work together to make the state greater.

"Preeminence is within our grasp," he said. "We must aspire to reacher higher."

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