Utah Priorities Project

Significant Statistics | Priorities survey reveals divergent housing affordability concerns by age, political viewpoint, ethnicity

Written by: Christopher Collard

Utah Foundation had asked about housing prices in its 2008, 2010 and 2012 Utah Priorities Project surveys but housing had never been one of the top 10 issues. However, housing affordability was the second most important issue to Utah voters in early 2020. With the emergence of the coronavirus, concerns about housing affordability dropped to 7th – with just under one-third of Utahns ranking it in the top 5. (See Figure 1.) Interestingly, housing affordability … Continued

Significant Statistics | Utahns prefer that K-12 spending go to teacher pay

Written by: Shawn Teigen

As part of the 2020 Utah Priorities Project survey, when asked if they would be willing to pay more taxes for public schools, a majority of voters agreed. Utah voters preferred that additional funding be directed toward teacher pay and smaller class sizes, with less emphasis on either technology, books and other supplies or counselors and support services. Improved school facilities was a distant last place. Learn about how these preferences conflict and more in … Continued

Significant Statistic | How Utahns View the National Masquerade

Written by: Christopher Collard

While Provo, Utah, made national news in July as the location of a protest against masks, a majority of Utah’s voters think that either the state or businesses should require the use of masks in public. And nearly all Utahns support at least encouraging mask wearing. In early July, we surveyed Utah voters for our Utah Priorities Project. We found that 42% of them think the state should mandate mask wearing in public, while another … Continued

Utah Thrives: The Cost of Health Care

Written by: Dan Bammes

For the voters surveyed for the Utah Priorities Project in 2016, no concern ranked higher than health care – and its cost. Utah Foundation responded with a three-part series looking at what we have to pay for health care. The series was honored with the 2018 Most Distinguished Research Award by the Governmental Research Association. And we’ve also invited Leavitt Partners CEO Andrew Croshaw, a leading thinker in the area of health care, to comment … Continued

Utah Foundation wins top awards for policy research

Written by: Dan Bammes

The Governmental Research Association, the national organization for public policy research professionals, has recognized Utah Foundation’s work with two of its top awards. The selections were announced August 1st at GRA’s national conference in Detroit. The three-part Utah Health Cost Series was honored with the Most Distinguished Research award. Utah voters put health care at the top of their list of priorities during 2016’s Utah Priorities Project, with their concern focused mainly on the cost … Continued

The Utah Health Cost Series — Video

Written by: Sam Brucker

Utah Foundation’s three-part Utah Health Cost Series is summarized here in this short video:     You can find all three installments of the report here.

Bringing Light to the Heat of the Health Care Cost Debate

Written by: Peter Reichard

In each decade, one or two public policy issues emerge as thematic. In the 1960s, for instance, it was civil rights and Vietnam; in the 1970s, it was energy and “stagflation”; in the 1980s, tax reform; in the 1990s, welfare reform; in the 2000s, terrorism. For our current decade, health care has come to dominate. Utah mirrors the nation on this. In a 2016 statewide survey, Utah Foundation found that health care was the number … Continued

Looking Back at Utah Foundation Research in 2016

Written by: Dan Bammes

Maybe there’s enough time in these final days of 2016 to catch our breath. We’re looking back at Utah Foundation’s research reports as well as the Utah Priorities Project. A monumental election season has concluded, with a challenging session of Utah’s legislature just ahead. Here’s our ranking of the top ten research findings of the past year, along with links to a report or research brief on each. 1 Only half of new education funds go … Continued

Priority #14: Immigration

Written by: Christopher Collard

This post continues our blog series on concerns that many Utah voters expressed in our Utah Priorities Project survey that didn’t make the cut for our top ten list. While immigration did not land on Utah voters’ top ten list of concerns, it has been a top issue (4th place) for Americans during this past election cycle.1 No doubt that its importance in the minds of Americans is related to Donald Trump’s strong position on … Continued

Priority #16: Transportation and Traffic

Written by: Mallory Bateman

This post continues our blog series on concerns that many Utah voters expressed in our survey that didn’t make the cut for our top ten list. Transportation and traffic ranked 16th in this year’s Utah Priorities Project, a similar to the 2010 and 2012 surveys. The highest ranking transportation and traffic has garnered was 9th place in 2008. This year, 49% of respondents gave this topic a 4 or a 5 on a 5-point scale., … Continued