Obama to visit Utah Air Force base, talk about economy during first trip to state as president
SALT LAKE CITY President Barack Obama is scheduled to make his first visit to Utah as president this week, the White House announced Monday.
White House spokesman Eric Schultz said the president will travel to Hill Air Force Base in northern Utah on Friday to speak about the economy.
The trip will mark the 49th state Obama has visited since becoming president.
White House officials have said he plans to travel to all 50 states before his term ends in January 2017. South Dakota is the only other state awaiting a visit.
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, a Republican, told reporters Monday afternoon that he hopes to meet with the president and discuss the state's positions on Medicaid expansion, public lands and energy development.
"I expect that we will greet him on the tarmac, as warrants any visiting president, and hopefully we can expand upon that and have some opportunity to have some quiet time to talk about some of the issues that impact Utah," Herbert said.
Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, a Democrat, said he has been encouraging the president to visit Utah since they first met, when Obama was still in the transition period following George W. Bush's presidency.
The mayor said he isn't sure why Obama waited so long to visit but is grateful for the opportunity "to give him a flavor of Utah." Obama took office in 2009.
State Sen. Jim Dabakis, a Salt Lake City Democrat, sponsored a resolution passed by the state Senate this year that invited the president and his family to visit Utah's five national parks.
Dabakis said he is a little disappointed the entire first family isn't joining the president and hopes that will happen in the future.
Continued here:
Obama to visit Utah Air Force base, talk about economy during first trip to state as president