October 06, 2013(Salt Lake Tribune) - Mike Leavitt didn’t attend his neighborhood caucus in 2012… [Rich] McKeown said the caucus system also favors older, longtime residents of the state over Utah transplants and women, who are under-represented among the delegates. In the Republican ranks, for example, women make up half the GOP voters in the state, but a quarter of the delegates, according to a 2012 survey conducted by the Utah Foundation.
August 29, 2013(Deseret News) - On Aug. 25, the Deseret News announced in its local section that state Sen. Patricia Jones, D-Holladay, was drafting a bill for the upcoming 2014 legislative session which, among other issues, would “create jobs and allow schools to shrink class sizes by hiring new educators.”
August 29, 2013(The Economist) - FEW things excite Gary Herbert, the Republican governor of Utah, more than trashing his own line of work. “Every sector is growing here except for one,” he says triumphantly. “You know which? Government!”… “People here aren’t trying to be Donald Trump,” says Stephen Kroes, president of the Utah Foundation…
August 22, 2013(Salt Lake Tribune) - Utah is about to face a tricky balancing act: how to raise taxes enough to fund new transportation projects that officials say are needed to fuel economic growth, but not make them so high that they chase away business.
August 12, 2013(Institute for Policy Studies (Too Much weekly newsletter)) - In The Spirit Level, the landmark 2009 book on the impact of inequality on our daily lives, the surprise societal star — at least for most American readers — ends up to be the state of Utah.
August 11, 2013(Fox 13) - SALT LAKE CITY – A new study shows Salt Lake City is at the top of the list when it comes to poor people becoming rich, and one Utah man’s rags-to-riches story is a perfect illustration of that ranking.
August 05, 2013(UtahPolicy.com) - A recent national study found that Utah was one of a half dozen states where it was easier for a hard-working person to move from one income strata to another. Good news. But then comes another look at Utah income mobility and equality. And it finds that within Utah itself it’s become harder to move upward financially. The new Utah Foundation study…
July 14, 2013(KSL News) - Utah Foundation President Steve Kroes interviewed alongside Wes Smith from the Salt Lake Chamber about transportation revenue needs and options in Utah.
July 02, 2013(Salt Lake Tribune) - Utah legislators feared to utter the words \”tax hike\” during the recession and the fragile economy that followed. But now business leaders, state administrators and local governments are pushing lawmakers to increase taxes for roads and mass transit, warning that doing nothing will have dire consequences.
July 02, 2013(Salt Lake Tribune) - A new national study says Utah’s urban highway conditions are among the nation’s best, but the state is among the worst for cost-effective road spending — including paying nearly four times the national per-mile average for administration.
June 24, 2013(Salt Lake Tribune) - If Utah would raise taxes to invest an extra $11.3 billion on high-priority road and mass-transit projects during the next 30 years, its return would be worth many times that amount — including more than $20 billion in extra tax revenue from economic growth and creation of about 6,000 new jobs a year, a new study says.
June 06, 2013(KSL News) - A recent Pew Study shows there has been a dramatic increase in the number of moms who are the primary wage-earners for their families. The U.S. is one of the best countries in the world for family wealth and access to housing.
April 08, 2013(Utah Policy) - With the legislative session completed, evaluation of the work of the 2013 Utah Legislature is appropriate. Observers need to read past the headlines to the bottom line. Here is my interpretation in three parts…
April 06, 2013(Salt Lake Tribune) - Utah schoolchildren are scoring at the bottom in English and math, and near the bottom in science when compared with students in states with similar home environments, according to a 2007 Utah Foundation study. What’s keeping our students from excellence?
March 29, 2013(Utah Policy) - State Sen. Aaron Osmond said Thursday, in a speech before a group of Utah bigwigs, that state taxes should be raised to support public education.
March 29, 2013(Salt Lake Tribune) - Students are accustomed, in geometry lessons, to drawing, comparing and measuring shapes.\r\n \r\n But on a recent day in Angela Challis’ class at South Jordan’s Welby Elementary School, fourth-graders became the shapes. They squeezed into red, pink, blue and purple costumes to demonstrate the meanings of congruent, not congruent and similar. The kids performed dances, twisting their bodies into poses, while singing definitions.
March 29, 2013(Salt Lake Tribune) - Panelists at a Utah Foundation meeting, including Sen. Aaron Osmond, suggested that in order to sustain the state\’s education and transportation needs, taxes must be raised to fund both – without making them compete for funds
March 28, 2013(KUER) - The Utah Foundation’s annual meeting Thursday deals with two traditionally conflicting issues facing Utahns, education and transportation. The foundation organizes the Utah Priorities Project along with the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah. Stephen Kroes , the president of the Utah Foundation says conflicts between education and transportation going forward need to end.
March 28, 2013(Salt Lake Tribune) - The clinking of glasses and background whispers stopped abruptly when Sen. Aaron Osmond mentioned two magic words he says are needed for the future of Utah education and transportation: Raise taxes.
March 24, 2013(Salt Lake Tribune) - Republicans hate taxes, but in Utah, our Republican-dominated leadership also loves roads. And therein lies a conundrum. \r\n \r\n A new study by the Utah Foundation compares the state’s transportation needs through 2040 — totaling about $70 billion — with what current taxes and fees will provide — about $43.4 billion.
