June 22, 2016(UtahPolicy.com) - The Utah Priorities Project Voter Survey, conducted as part of Utah Foundation’s election year assessment of voter issues, placed concern for the environment at #10 on its top ten issues list. Among its findings: 48% of voters say stricter environmental controls are worth the cost, while 52% say they are not. The results show a wide gap between conservative and liberal voters, with 73% of conservative voters saying more stringent controls are too costly. 93% … Continued
June 13, 2016(What Do You Think, Utah) - Utah used to have some of the highest voter turnout rates in the country and now less than 50% of eligible voters go to the polls. Bill Allred discusses obstacles to voter participation and the Count My Vote initiative that led to the HB 54 nomination compromise law currently in effect with guests Dan Bammes from the Utah Foundation, Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes, political consultant Dave Owen and Count My Vote organizer Rich McKeown.
June 10, 2016(KUER) - 2016 is arguably one of the most important election cycles in recent memory and Utahns are responding. A record number of state residents have registered to vote this year. In a state that has had a historically low voter turnout, tens of thousands of new voters participated in the Republican and Democratic caucuses in March this year. But will that enthusiasm carry over to the general election in November? Listen to the 2nd installment in … Continued
June 09, 2016(Deseret News) - Recent analysis by Utah Foundation shows that our state’s tax burden has dropped to its lowest level in 20 years. Even when accounting for the recent motor-fuel tax reform and the property tax for education — both of which are critical to our future success by improving rural roads and schools — our ranking did not see a significant increase. While our tax code still needs further modernization, elected officials deserve credit for striking an … Continued
June 07, 2016(KUER) - Green issues are capturing more attention in politics these days. It’s true in community elections and in the national vote, according to the author of a new book on energy politics. And the creator of a new political action committee in Utah agrees. Consumer advocate Wenonah Hauter, author of “Frackopoly: The Battle for the Future of Energy and the Environment,” describes an energy industry entrenched in national and state politics. Americans everywhere have started pushing … Continued
June 03, 2016(Deseret News) - Early estimates show that more than 40,237 students graduated this year from Utah’s eight public colleges and universities, as well as Westminster College and BYU. And a report published in April by the Lumina Foundation showed that 47.9 percent of working Utah residents in 2014 had a college degree or certificate, above the national average of 45.3 percent. But the $7,752 that Utah spends per college student isn’t yielding the results for which educators and … Continued
May 31, 2016(UtahPolicy.com) - Steve Kroes, president, The Utah Foundation. I think it’s the new normal… for a little while. Maybe through the next election cycle, maybe the one after that. I have a friend who believes the end of democracy is coming. I am nowhere near that level of apocalyptic thinking, but I am disturbed by the rising sense of doom that has been seducing America for a decade or more. Whether it’s the national debt, changing social … Continued
May 30, 2016(The Spectrum) - Utah voters are unlikely to have a choice they like in the race on Election Day. A survey conducted May 19 by the nonpartisan Utah Foundation found that neither Clinton or Trump was very popular with voters. The survey, which drew from a relatively small sample size of 68 respondents, found that only 8 percent were were strongly favorable toward Trump, compared to 10 percent feeling strongly favorable toward Clinton. Sixty-three percent said they had … Continued
May 29, 2016(Davis Clipper) - A panel of voters who participated in the Utah Priorities Project voter poll earlier this year expressed disapproval of both presumptive presidential nominees, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, in a follow-up survey. The group of 68 voters volunteered to answer additional questions after the much broader poll conducted by Dan Jones and Associates in February and March. While the smaller group is not a statistically representative sample of the population, their answers to … Continued
May 25, 2016(What Do You Think, Utah) - If you haven’t been voting because you feel left out of the political process, this may be why. Utah used to have some of the highest voter turn out rates in the country. Now, often less than 50% of eligible voters go to the polls in the Beehive State. It has become increasingly clear that Utah voters think their vote doesn’t matter. And, beyond that, many feel that the candidates available to them don’t really … Continued
May 25, 2016(Salt Lake Tribune) - According to a report from the Utah Foundation released last month, Utah charters collect about 10 percent less per student than regular public schools, but they have cost advantages, too. They have fewer non-English speakers and economically-disadvantaged students. Add in the public schools’ requirements to provide busing, to build inefficient rural schools and to provide such things as gang-prevention services, and the cost difference virtually disappears. Looking at test scores, charters track pretty closely to … Continued
May 20, 2016(Fox 13 News) - Two quotes from the same Utah voter may sum up the feeling of a 68-member panel assembled by the Utah Foundation. We’ll call the anonymous voter Jane. “I am very afraid Donald Trump will become president,” Jane says. “I do not think that Hillary is a better choice than Trump,” Jane adds. The Utah Foundation asked a subsection of respondents to their broad Utah Priorities poll to respond to a series of questions about Hillary … Continued
May 10, 2016(The Spectrum) - An equity gap regarding academic funding between Utah’s charter schools and district schools is slowly closing, according to a recent report from the Utah Foundation. The 2016 findings, the organization’s third research report focusing on charter schools, credits public funding and recent legislation, more specifically House Bill 444, for the improved per-pupil subsidy numbers throughout the state. That specific legislation put in place a task force to work on issues related to charter school funding. Utah Foundation officials … Continued
May 10, 2016(The Spectrum) - There is some evidence that water has become a higher-profile issue for Utans in recent years, with four years of consistent drought having given it more attention in recent years across the southwest. Water supply and quality ranked as the sixth-highest priority among all state issues in a voter survey conducted by the Utah Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank based inSalt Lake City. In previous surveys done in 2010 and 2012, it fell outside of … Continued
May 05, 2016(Davis Clipper) - On “hot-button” issues such as the control of public lands in the state, Democrats and Republicans diverge widely, with convention delegates taking stronger positions than many voters. An interesting difference turns up on the issue of immigration. Republicans agreed with the statement that “unauthorized immigrants have a negative effect on Utah’s economy and society.” Democrats strongly disagree, with convention delegates taking a more liberal position than voters on that question. However, delegates from both parties … Continued
May 03, 2016(Standard Examiner) - Municipal and industrial water consumption alone has lowered the Great Salt Lake by about 1.3 feet. Around 67 percent of Utah’s household water goes outdoors, mostly to lawns. Agriculture claims 63 percent of water in the Great Salt Lake Basin and is attributed with dropping the lake by about 7 feet. Half of Utah’s agricultural water irrigates alfalfa fields, according to a 2015 study by the Utah Foundation. A lot of that hay doesn’t even … Continued
May 02, 2016(Deseret News) - A recently released study by the Utah Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research group, illustrated the disconnect between rank-and-file party voters and convention delegates. In both parties, delegates were more politically polarized, identifying with the extremes of their parties, than were voters. This was most pronounced among Republicans. The Foundation survey found that voters and delegates agreed on eight of 10 priority issues, but they put them in far different order. Voters placed health care No. … Continued
April 27, 2016(KUTV) - State lawmakers attention to providing resources for charter schools has paid off. According to a new study by Utah Foundation the resource gap between district and charter schools has decreased from 14 to 10 percent. The study determines charter and district schools operate differently in terms of accountability and purpose. Senate bill 38, a school amendments bill,is expected to result in an increase of $193 per charter school student. “The charter school funding from Senate … Continued
April 27, 2016(UtahPolicy.com) - Utah’s charter schools have struggled for resources since they were first authorized in 1998, but a new study by Utah Foundation shows they’ve been able to receive more public funding in recent years. Charter schools have not been able to access property tax revenues directly, and various funding formulas have left a gap of as much as 14% between the resources provided to charters as compared to district schools. That has been closing in recent … Continued
April 27, 2016(UtahPolicy.com) - Utah’s charter schools have struggled for resources since they were first authorized in 1998, but a new study by Utah Foundation shows they’ve been able to receive more public funding in recent years. Charter schools have not been able to access property tax revenues directly, and various funding formulas have left a gap of as much as 14% between the resources provided to charters as compared to district schools. That has been closing in recent … Continued - The gap in per-pupil funding between district schools and charter schools continues to narrow thanks to past efforts and recent legislation. In 2004, district schools received about $1,005 per student more than charters, a 13.9 percent difference. That gap has since been reduced to $683, a 9.9 percent difference, according to a Utah Foundation report released Wednesday. And next year, that gap is expected to narrow even further by $193 thanks to legislation that lawmakers … Continued
April 27, 2016(Deseret News) - Since Weinholtz has raised the issue, his campaign will now be publicly associated with it. Indeed, it may become a campaign theme. However, that would be a major mistake. Even though Utahns are warming to the idea does not mean it is a priority for them. A recent Utah Foundation survey found that medical marijuana is not among the top 10 issues for voters this year. Emphasizing an issue that is not important to Utah … Continued
April 27, 2016(Salt Lake Tribune) - Utah spends $683 less educating charter school students than their traditional school district peers, according to a report released Wednesday by The Utah Foundation. That funding gap will narrow by roughly $200 next year as the state implements SB38, which directs an additional $20 million to charter schools, which are public schools that operate independently of Utah’s 41 school districts. But while the funding levels between school types are unequal, it is unclear whether they … Continued
April 26, 2016(Salt Lake Tribune) - Indeed, the question now becomes how well Johnson’s message that was embraced by the 4,000 conservative party activists who served as delegates will be received by the broader population of primary voters. A recent study by the nonpartisan Utah Foundation found that the delegates tend to be considerably more conservative than the general Republican voter pool. But primary voters fall somewhere in the middle, said Steve Kroes, president of the foundation. “It’s another shade of … Continued
April 24, 2016(Deseret News) - Before the 2014 compromise legislation (SB 54), which remains quite controversial, a candidate winning 60 percent of delegates’ votes would avoid a primary and proceed directly to the general election. A signature-gathering path now allows candidates to appeal to delegates, or directly to voters, or both. But some still decry the influence of party delegates. A report of the Utah Foundation released Thursday said Democratic delegates are more liberal, and Republican delegates more conservative, than … Continued
April 23, 2016(Cache Valley Daily) - Both Utah Republicans and Utah Democrats are holding state conventions Saturday where numerous political decisions will be made by both parties. A new Utah Pioneer Priorities Project Survey, conducted by the Utah Foundation, shows that only 24 percent of the Republican delegates are women while Democrats have 47 percent going to the convention who are women. On KVNU’s For the People program Thursday, research analyst Christopher Collard said one change noted this year was the … Continued
