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
April 21, 2016(UtahPolicy.com) - Delegates meeting in Utah’s Republican and Democratic state party conventions this weekend tend to have stronger partisan views than the state’s voters at large. A new Utah Priorities Project survey shows Utah’s Republican delegates overlap Republican voters by 76% on an ideological scale devised by the Pew Research Centers. Democratic delegates overlap Democratic voters by about 77% on the same scale. On “hot-button” issues such as the control of public lands in the state, Democrats … Continued
April 22, 2016(Deseret News) - There’s a bigger disconnect between Republican voters and state delegates on the top issues facing Utah than among Democrats, according to a new Utah Foundation survey released Thursday. The survey of state party delegates for the 2016 Utah Priorities Project found that Republican voters see health care as the most important issue, but Republican delegates place states’ rights at the top of the list. The same delegates said public lands, also an issue seen as … Continued
April 21, 2016(KTVX) - State delegates are preparing to gather at their party’s convention to weigh in on the political process. A new report is shedding light on their views. “The party delegates are more ideologically polarized than party voters are,” said Shawn Teigen with Utah Foundation. His organization surveyed 973 delegates about their top priorities. Those answers were compared to a survey of voters to see how the two differ. While delegates are more partisan their priorities tend … Continued
April 21, 2016(KSL-TV) - There’s a bigger disconnect between Republican voters and state delegates on the top issues facing Utah than among Democrats, according to a new Utah Foundation survey released Thursday. The survey of state party delegates for the 2016 Utah Priorities Project found that Republican voters see health care as the most important issue, but Republican delegates place states’ rights at the top of the list. The same delegates said public lands, also an issue seen as … Continued
April 21, 2016(KUER) - In the days leading up to state political conventions, a new report shows how closely delegates align with the voters they represent. State delegates will meet this weekend to choose candidates to represent their political party in state and federal elections. A new report from the Utah Foundation shows that the ideologies and demographics of delegates don’t always match up to those of voters. “Republican delegates are more consistently conservative than republican voters,” says Shawn … Continued
April 21, 2016(Salt Lake Tribune) - The non-partisan Utah Foundation research organization released results Thursday of a poll that compared delegates to voters in their parties. It asked a series of questions to allow respondents to choose between positions that are traditionally liberal or conservative. “While 27 percent of Republican voters were ‘consistently conservative,’ 46 percent of Republican delegates fell in the same category,” it said. In other words, GOP delegates are much further to the right than typical Republican voters. … Continued
April 17, 2016(Deseret News) - Yet the five-ring circus metaphor resonates nationally because of the battle being played out within the national Republican Party this political season. In Utah, the Reaganesque fusion of libertarians and social conservatives still hangs together. But Herbert plays well in the “establishment” mold, and played well at the April 2 luncheon at which the Utah Foundation released its top priorities. The foundation’s top 10 list was heavy on education, environment, the economy and infrastructure projects … Continued
April 15, 2016(UtahPolicy.com) - In Monday’s GOP gubernatorial debate, Johnson challenged Herbert to take the no-new-tax pledge, adding that Herbert and the Legislature have raised taxes some times in recent years – including the gasoline tax and the property tax for schools. Herbert declined to take the pledge, saying a fiscally responsible governor and Legislature sometimes has to “rebalance” the tax load when things get out of whack. Herbert said none other than Sen. Howard Stephenson, president of the Utah Taxpayers … Continued
April 07, 2016(Utah Political Capitol) - To help Utah voters better understand how gubernatorial candidates line up on the issues, the Utah Foundation has published a report on the matter during each gubernatorial election year since 2004. With the 2016 race beginning to heat up, the non-partisan, Salt Lake City-based think tank recently released its findings for this election cycle’s candidates, Part II of the Utah Priorities Project . Out of the 11 candidates vying for the position, 7 chose to answer … Continued
April 07, 2016(KUER) - The non-partisan Utah Foundation has published a report that takes a closer look at the priorities of seven candidates running for Governor. The group surveyed Republican Governor Gary Herbert and his GOP challengers Nate Jensen and Jonathan Johnson, along with Democratic candidates Vaughn Cook and Mike Weinholtz. Unaffiliated candidates L.S. Brown and Gary Van Horn were also included. Candidates rated their level of concern for issues based on a scale of 1 to 5, one … Continued
April 06, 2016(Fox 13 News) - Shawn Teigen, research director for the Utah Foundation, came to the FOX 13 News Studio Wednesday to discuss the priorities Utah voters have and how those priorities compare with those of the candidates running for Governor. See the video above for Teigen’s comments on the issues that are important to Utah voters and whether or not those same issues are important to candidates for governor. The comparison is part of the group’s “Utah Priorities Project”, click … Continued
April 06, 2016(UtahPolicy.com) - In an effort to help Utah voters better understand the differences and similarities of the gubernatorial candidates, Utah Foundation has published Part II of the Utah Priorities Project. In this report, voters can see what topics candidates are most concerned about, how they align with voters across the state, and how they align with their own personal views. This will ultimately help voters evaluate who is the best candidate to represent their interests in state … Continued
April 06, 2016(Salt Lake Tribune) - Not surprisingly, Gov. Gary Herbert says Utah is on the right track — while most of his opponents say the opposite. Herbert rates quality of life as “much better” than it was five years ago, while most of his opponents see it as worse. And Herbert generally zigs when the others zag when questioned about how important 21 separate issues are, according to a study released Wednesday by the Utah Foundation, a non-profit research organization. … Continued
April 04, 2016(The Spectrum) - In Utah, programs like the “Alternatives” program — which provides services like grocery shopping, household chores and snow removal — cost less than one-third of what it would cost to provide similar services in a full-time care center, according to an analysis by the Salt Lake City-based think-tank The Utah Foundation. But that program currently covers only 0.25 percent of all Utah seniors, and the analysis indicated that every county in the state has a waiting list … Continued
April 03, 2016(Daily Herald) - A 2007 Utah Foundation report ranks special education teachers as the most likely of all subgroups of teachers to leave the profession. The report notes that special education teachers reported dissatisfaction with job responsibilities and changes in job responsibilities as main reasons for their departure. With the rate of children being diagnosed with autism on the rise, it’s becoming crucial for those even outside of the special education field to have a background in the … Continued
