January 11, 2019(KTVX) - According to a recent report from The Utah Foundation, the Utah State Prison in Draper can house up to 4,500 offenders, both male and female. The Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison can hold 1,600 males. That means both of Utah’s prisons combined, has 6,100 beds. According to the report, as of September 2018, there were 6,636 prisoners in the beehive state, which means we’re over capacity.
January 11, 2019(Deseret News) - Gov. Gary Herbert has proposed a reform package that would do some of this while also giving Utahns a $200 million cut in the overall sales tax the state collects — effectively giving back some of the state’s projected $1.3 billion in surplus funds. He would lower the state’s portion of the sales tax from 4.7 percent to somewhere less than 3.9 percent. Lawmakers might be able to do even better than that. A study … Continued
January 07, 2019(Bloomberg Tax) - Big families in Utah—the state with the highest birth rate in the nation—face a big tax problem because of the federal tax overhaul. But child-friendly Utah’s Legislature is likely to take another stab this year at a fix. The 2017 federal tax law, while increasing overall deductions, eliminated the state tax exemption per dependent that helped lower tax bills for Utahns earning up to about $150,000.
January 03, 2019(GRA Online) - In 2016, Utah Foundation’s Priorities Project found that the cost of health care was Utahns’ biggest concern. In response, Utah Foundation produced a three-part Utah health cost series from December 2017 to June 2018. The series provides an analysis of the overall cost of health care spending in Utah, the cost of health insurance for Utahns, and the overall cost of Medicaid in Utah. Utah Foundation found that Utahns spend less per capita on health … Continued
December 26, 2018(Deseret News) - A new study confirms a trend many lawmakers already support: Increased rehabilitation services for drug-addicted offenders offers needed short-term aid while lowering long-term impacts on taxpayers as recidivism rates drop. The report, produced by the Utah Foundation,takes an in-depth look at efforts to address addiction within Utah’s justice system. The study also explores alternative approaches for people struggling with substance abuse and suggests courses of future action. It offers some good news and bad news … Continued
December 25, 2018(KUTV) - Proponents of Utah’s criminal justice reform bill of 2015 say it’s been “very effective” at cutting the prison population, saving taxpayers money and getting help to people addicted to drugs. However, treatment challenges remain, and local jail populations are higher. Marshall Thompson, director of the Utah Sentencing Commission, said Utah was years ahead of federal lawmakers, who voted last week on changes impacting the federal prison system. The 2015 state law dropped certain drug possession … Continued
December 23, 2018(Deseret News) - Somewhere in our state right now, an inmate is struggling with the slavery of substance abuse. He has fallen into a downward spiral of addiction and criminality, and has landed behind bars. Drug use and crime are often entangled. Some offenders with substance-use disorders are arrested on drug possession charges; others may be arrested for crimes committed to fund an addiction. In short, many criminal offenders are people caught in the downward spiral of addiction … Continued
December 16, 2018(Daily Herald) - A nonprofit group laid out a recipe Thursday to reduce Utah’s prison and jail populations, cut crime, save lives and unburden taxpayers. Effective drug treatment programs are a major part of the solution, the Utah Foundation said in its study, “Rethinking Rehabilitation.” Treatment in the long run cuts costs in the criminal justice system and reduces repeat offenses, the report said. Programs that address prisoners’ mental health or substance use problems can save taxpayers up … Continued
December 14, 2018(Standard Examiner) - A nonprofit group laid out a recipe Thursday to reduce Utah’s prison and jail populations, cut crime, save lives and unburden taxpayers. Effective drug treatment programs are a major part of the solution, the Utah Foundation said in its study, “Rethinking Rehabilitation.” Treatment in the long run cuts costs in the criminal justice system and reduces repeat offenses, the report said. Programs that address prisoners’ mental health or substance use problems can save taxpayers up … Continued
December 16, 2018(Standard Examiner) - THUMBS UP: This week, the Utah Foundation released a report that shows how Utah can reduce prison and jail populations, saving the taxpayers a lot of money. In that report, rehabilitation is a central element. Treating prisoners’ mental health and substance abuse issues are key to helping them when they re-enter society and to reduce future cost burdens on fellow Utahns. On the flip side, the report claims that criminal justice costs will only increase … Continued
December 14, 2018(Salt Lake Tribune) - Utah has one of the lowest prison incarceration rates in the nation — only six states have lower rates — but it’s a different story with county jails, where Utah’s incarceration rate is the 15th-highest in the nation. Part of this disparity is due to the criminal justice reform enacted in 2015 designed to keep people convicted of nonviolent crimes — mostly drug offenses — out of prison. That goal is being met, with a … Continued
December 10, 2018(UtahPolicy.com) - At its Board of Trustees meeting December 6, Utah Foundation announced the following new officers. Elizabeth Hitch, Associate Commissioner for Academic Affairs in the Utah System of Higher Education, is the new chair. Dr. Hitch previously served as vice chair and replaces outgoing chair Brent Jensen, vice president of HDR Engineering. Chad Westover, CEO of University of Utah Health Plans, is the new vice chair. Dan Eldredge, General Manager of Intermountain Power Agency, is the … Continued
December 08, 2018(Deseret News) - Utah has the fifth-highest suicide rate among all 50 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Utah Foundation, a nonpartisan public policy research group, reported this year that the suicide rate in Utah jumped from 15.8 per 100,000 in 1999 to 24.2 per 100,000 in 2016, increasing among every age group. 2 comments on this story Among Utahns ages 10 to 17, the number of suicides were more than four times … Continued
December 02, 2018(The Independent) - A little history about Utah’s property tax laws sheds light on how we’ve arrived at our current situation. The current “Truth in Taxation” process came about due to increasing citizen concerns about the way local governments had been levying property taxes during a period from 1970 until the mid-1980s during which assessed property values had increased rapidly, averaging 13 percent per year. This situation provided a windfall to some local governments with tax revenues increasing … Continued
November 29, 2018(Deseret News) - And if today’s high turnout rate really is a Trump effect, what happens when he no longer is on the ballot? Will we still be able to muster the rage to vote? Is rage really the defining factor to a vibrant democracy? Should it be? In a Deseret News op-ed published a year ago, Utah Foundation President Peter Reichard noted a clear correlation between voter turnout and high education levels, high incomes and older age … Continued
November 21, 2018(City Weekly) - All this while Utah’s public school enrollment is bubbling into the 660,000 range and nonprofit organization Utah Foundation notes one in five Salt Lake residents say housing is not affordable. There is a huge disconnect—a fevered rush to build big, expensive developments, an expectation that suburban areas can fill the lower-end gap, but no real plan for mixed-use, affordable buildings that communities can get behind.
November 19, 2018(Deseret News) - Six years ago, a New York Times investigation found cities and counties nationwide gave a combined $80 billion a year in incentives to companies. Earlier this year, experts at the Brookings Institution estimated that figure now is about $90 billion, and growing. Earlier this year, the Utah Foundation released a study on sales taxes that found Utah has granted 91 separate exemptions from that tax, costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars per year. … Continued
November 11, 2018(Salt Lake Tribune) - When considering Utah’s assets, it’s easy to rattle off a series of indicators that play directly into economic performance: a favorable tax environment, a strong workforce, a diversified economy, a fleet of strong higher ed institutions and one of the most well-educated populations in the nation. But one of Utah’s most important assets is less tangible. It comes up in conversation perhaps more than any other asset, but you can’t find it in federal statistics. … Continued
October 30, 2018(Utah Public Radio) - Utah ranks first in a few of these categories including voter accessibility policies and percentage of residents who participate in civic groups or organizations. However, according to a study that came out last year from the Utah Foundation, Utah remains near the bottom of the list for voter participation. Ranking 39th in the nation for voter turnout in 2016’s presidential and state elections. Ballots for the general election are due November 6th.
October 30, 2018(Fox 13 News) - Even though there are a lot of new homes being built, many aren’t affordable due to a labor shortage caused by several big municipal projects, most notably the Salt Lake City International Airport. “The valley’s kind of filling in, so there’s a lack of available land and if you add to that the tariffs situation that’s driving up the cost of steel, aluminum, and lumber and other things that you use for home construction,” said … Continued
October 31, 2018(Salt Lake Tribune) - A recent survey by the nonprofit Utah Foundation found that about 12 percent of respondents statewide said their personal housing costs were not affordable — although that number was as high as 20 percent in Salt Lake County. Price increases along the Wasatch Front for the third quarter were led by Tooele County, up 14.6 percent, and Utah County, up 11.3 percent. Salt Lake County’s median home price, by comparison, went up by 9.2 percent … Continued
October 28, 2018(UtahPolicy.com) - Christine Durham, the former Chief Justice of the Utah Supreme Court, will be honored with Utah Foundation’s Insight Award at the Foundation’s Annual Luncheon on Wednesday. Union Pacific will also be recognized with the Civic Cornerstone Award. Justice Durham received her law degree from Duke University. She worked in private practice in both North Carolina and Utah. She has also taught at Brigham Young University and the University of Utah. Justice Durham served for four … Continued
October 28, 2018(Salt Lake Tribune) - A common critique of concerns about Utah’s education spending is this demographic fact: We have larger families and fewer working taxpayers to support them as a consequence. Nevertheless, there was a time when we put more financial effort into educating our young charges. From the 2016 Utah Foundation report on education spending, “Over the past twenty years, Utah’s K-12 education funding effort — or the amount spent per $1,000 personal income — has decreased from … Continued
October 23, 2018(Deseret News) - Mitt Romney, hot-button citizens initiatives and leftover emotions from the 2016 presidential race are setting up to help haul Utah out of the voter participation basement in the upcoming midterm, according to observers. And Utah Democrats are adding new voters at a rate outpacing their GOP counterparts by almost 3-1, when measured as a percentage of growth. Morgan Lyon Cotti, Hinckley Institute of Politics associate director, said current ballot items and lingering emotions that track … Continued
October 23, 2018(Deseret News) - Housing affordability has become one of the biggest topics in recent public discourse. That makes sense: Housing prices in Utah have increased sharply during the past five years. The median sales price of a home rose from $207,000 in 2013 to $298,950 in 2018. Median rents in Utah have increased from $851 in 2012 to $986 in 2017. From a longer-term perspective, housing cost increases in both Utah and most other Western states have consistently … Continued
