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Leavitt urges bigger education investment, tax simplification and land exchange in 2000 State of the State
Summary
Governor Michael O. Leavitt presented a State of the State calling for a 7.4% increase in K–12 funding, endorsement of a new student-assessment system (U PASS), a long-term plan to eliminate the sales tax on food, a two‑year broadband goal, and a major school‑trust land exchange with the BLM.
Governor Michael O. Leavitt used his State of the State address to press for higher education funding and accountability, a simplified tax code to address e-commerce, expanded broadband, and a large land-exchange deal intended to boost the state’s school trust fund.
Leavitt told the joint convention that Utah has "invested aggressively in education" over the past seven years—building or replacing nearly 100 schools, adding technology, reducing class sizes and hiring more than 1,700 teachers—and proposed "a 7.4% increase in our public school budget, aggressive but achievable." He said that with clearer priorities the state can "invest more. Expect more." The governor endorsed the Legislative Task Force's recommended Utah Performance Assessment System for Students (U PASS), saying, "U PASS would measure what we expect our students to know," and urged the State Board of Education to set annual improvement targets.
On taxation, Leavitt framed the state's approach as…
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