Written by: Christopher Collard
In this podcast, Utah Foundation staff members Christopher Collard, Ashley Marshall-Cantor, and Shawn Teigen talk about the top research findings of 2024. They cover the Utah Priorities Project, taxes, and housing. Listen below!
Written by: Shawn Teigen
Bad news: Utah was one of eight states where 8th-grade students’ reading scores were lower in 2024 than in 2022. Worse news: No states saw any improvement on the 4th-grade reading or 8th-grade reading or math scores. Better news: Utah’s 4th-grade reading and math scores and Utah’s 8th-grade math scores remained unchanged (in terms of statistically significant differences). Good news: 15 states improved in 4th-grade math. And Utah remains better than the nation on all four tests (though … Continued
Written by: Shawn Teigen
The Utah Legislature will likely spend much time over the next couple of months talking about K-12 and post-secondary education, energy, immigration, taxes and elections. But what should they consider if they want to be responsive to what matters most to Utahns? The answer: cost of living and political dysfunction. Cost of living: Housing With respect to the cost of living, voters were concerned about housing costs and all other household expenses following periods of … Continued
Written by: Staff
Ground-level ozone is of concern to policymakers because of public health risks. Breathing ground-level ozone can cause respiratory problems, especially for vulnerable groups including children, older people, people who work outdoors, and those with preexisting respiratory conditions such as asthma.1 One source of ground-level ozone is from methane gas. The difference in methane emissions across Utah counties helps explain why Uintah and Duchesne counties have ground-level ozone concentrations of about 40% and 30% higher, respectively, … Continued
Written by: Shawn Teigen
The Utah Foundation’s Board of Trustees not only determines each year’s research agenda – it also determines the most important findings for the year. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of the board voters picked the number one choice. Note: The percents above show the board members who voted for each issue. Each board member had three votes to select the top items from a final list of 10. Three findings are from the Utah … Continued
Written by: Shawn Teigen
SALT LAKE CITY (Jan. 3, 2025) – The Utah Foundation today announces the 2025 leadership team for its board of trustees, with Kelly Mendenhall, Director of Regulatory and Pricing at Enbridge, appointed as Board Chair. Mendenhall has worked for Enbridge and its predecessor companies for over 25 years. A native of Utah, he has supported the Utah Foundation as a board member since 2017. He was previously the Utah Foundation’s Vice Chair. Utah Foundation President Shawn … Continued
Written by: Christopher Collard
Utah’s Senior Advisor for Housing Strategy and Innovation and former member of the Utah State House of Representatives talks with Utah Foundation Trustee Thomas Young about the top issue of the 2024 Utah Priorities Project: housing affordability.
Written by: Shawn Teigen
I was initially an Olympics naysayer, routinely asking, “What is the point in spending so much on sports?” During the leadup and throughout the 2002 Games, I realized that maybe I’d sold short the Olympics’ upsides. To me, it became transformational, as the sense of community I’d felt was unlike any I’d seen since moving to the state. Now, I’m a Utah Hockey Club naysayer and cannot wait to be proven wrong again. In my … Continued
Written by: Staff
On the three-legged stool of taxation – sales, income, and property taxes – Utah is less regressive than most other states. This is important because some Utahns believe that higher-income earners should pay a larger percentage of their income. In contrast, others believe that higher-income earners should pay less since they already contribute the lion’s share of the overall state and local tax receipts. Tax policy is perhaps one of the most widely and hotly … Continued
Written by: Christopher Collard
Inflation has stabilized over the last 12 months between 3% and 4%, though that rate is higher than the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%. The higher rate is likely due to increasing housing costs. Energy inflation levels are near their long-term average while price increases on food and everything else have slowed below their long-term average. The Utah Foundation’s interactive dashboard allows residents is to: Explore current rates. Compare rates for Western and Mountain States … Continued