January 15, 2012 (Daily Herald) - Small groups of Utah County neighbors are set to gather in countless homes in March in what is supposed to be the ultimate in grassroots politics, the purest form of American democracy.\r\n \r\n But is it really healthy? That depends on whom you ask.
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January 14, 2012 (Salt Lake Tribune) - Utahns long ago gave up being ranked anywhere near No. 1 in public education, considering the lack of commitment among their legislators to creating a top-notch system. But dropping to eighth-worst in the latest Quality Counts national report should be cause for real concern.
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January 12, 2012 (Salt Lake Tribune) - Older Utahns are politically active at the caucus level, with participation rates higher than their representation among eligible voters — until they hit age 65.
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January 12, 2012 (Salt Lake Tribune) - Unease about Europe’s debt crisis, gridlock in Congress and slipping educational attainments in Utah are casting shadows over the state, even as evidence mounts that its recovery from the recession is outstripping the country.
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January 12, 2012 (Deseret News) - Utah must grow post-secondary education levels to keep the state competitive, Gov. Gary Herbert and other business leaders said at the Utah Economic Review.
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January 09, 2012 (Standard-Examiner) - We ran a scary story last week about how much highways are going to cost Utah over the next 30 years. The tab is $69 billion, a chunk of that just in the Top of Utah.
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December 26, 2011 (Deseret News) - There is something that happens in those early years of rapid development as young minds are exploring and beginning to understand the world. It\’s a stage of connecting, of first perceptions, of significant brain development.
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December 19, 2011 (Utah Pulse) - Is Utah out of step in the critical process of picking political candidates, or is our unique caucus/convention system something to be treasured and maintained?
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December 19, 2011 (Deseret News) - Eyebrows raise when you hear about any interest rate on credit more than 30 percent. If you\’re discussing payday or title lending, the implied interest rates (in annual percentage rate) can be above 500 percent. Put in those terms, short-term consumer lending markets sound immoral and predatory.
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December 16, 2011 (Utah Pulse) - A group of Utahns have decided not to run a citizen initiative in 2012 that could have provided an alternative route for a candidate to his party’s primary ballot.\r\n
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December 15, 2011 (KCPW) - A simmering debate over how political candidates are nominated in Utah is bubbling over into editorial pages, the blogosphere and now the radio waves. Do you think the state’s current caucus system is working?
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December 15, 2011 (Salt Lake Tribune) - A push to change Utah’s nominating process backed by several prominent politicos, including former Gov. Mike Leavitt, is being put on hold for now, but backers say it could be back in 2014.\r\n \r\n Kirk Jowers, director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah, said his group remains convinced that something needs to be done to boost Utah’s voter participation, and that changing Utah’s unique convention system for nominating candidates could … Continued
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December 15, 2011 (RadioWest) - According to a recent report, Utah’s unique caucus system gives more power to convention delegates than any other state. Another report showed that caucus delegates don’t represent mainstream Utah voters. A newly formed group of politicos is fed up with the system and they want to change the way Utahns pick their candidates. A diverse panel of guests will join Doug on Thursday to discuss the state’s nominating system, how it does or doesn’t work, … Continued
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December 07, 2011 (Salt Lake Tribune) - Gov. Jon Huntsman’s Commission on Strengthening Utah’s Democracy worked diligently to determine why Utah’s voter participation had tanked from leading the nation in voter turnout to a ranking that is now a miserable 50 percent. According to Commission Chair and Hinckley Institute of Politics Director Kirk Jowers, “The 800-pound gorilla of our democratic malaise is the caucus-and-convention system.”
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December 01, 2011 (Deseret News) - Utah’s No. 1 education challenge unquestionably is funding. Utah’s revenues are slowly improving. Forbes Magazine has again named Utah as the best state for business. It’s time for the Legislature to reinvest in the future and the students if we are to maintain that status.
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November 25, 2011 (The Examiner) - Utah’s system of caucuses and conventions allows a small number of delegates -3,500 republicans and 2,700 democrats – to decide how we vote. If you are a delegate, you have power. If you are in a political minority or not a delegate, in Utah, you are dead in the water. Former Republican Governor Mike Leavitt thinks it’s time for a change.
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November 23, 2011 (Deseret News) - A small group of Republicans looking to change the state’s unique system of nominating candidates is expected to decide in mid-December whether to take their case directly to voters through an initiative petition drive.
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November 21, 2011 (Daily Herald) - If Rep. Chris Herrod, R-Provo, or Sen. Dan Liljenquist, R-Bountiful, want to knock off Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, in the 2012 elections, their easiest — and cheapest — route to winning the election will be knocking off Hatch in the state Republican Convention.
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November 20, 2011 (Real Clear Politics) - Utah\’s unique caucus system could push candidates and elected officials to cater policies to a small group of delegates instead of the general populous, a research group suggests in a new report.
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November 19, 2011 (Deseret News) - Being out of touch with the rest of the nation isn\’t necessarily a bad thing. Good public policy should be based on more than just following trends. But the way Utah\’s major political parties nominate candidates isn\’t only unique, it discourages people from participating in the political process and may be contributing to disturbingly low voter turnout.
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November 18, 2011 (Utah Pulse) - Two items of interest this week, first, a new research report on Utah’s unique convention/primary candidate nomination process is out.\r\n \r\n The Utah Foundation, a non-partisan public policy research organization, published this week an important historical/analytical paper on Utah’s convention/primary system.
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November 18, 2011 (Ballot Access News) - The Utah Foundation has just published a study of Utah’s unique primary system. Utah is the only state in which no one can get on a primary ballot for any non-presidential office unless the candidate has high support at a party nominating convention first.
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November 17, 2011 (Utah Data Points) - Do Utah’s election laws and practices allow “full opportunity” for people to become candidates and for “voters to express their choice?”
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November 17, 2011 (Salt Lake Tribune) - A group of prominent politicos, including former Gov. Mike Leavitt, is lining up financial backers and nearing a decision whether to launch a ballot initiative that could reshape Utah politics by wresting control of the candidate-nominating process from relatively small groups of devout party faithful.
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November 17, 2011 (Deseret News) - The Utah Foundation is trying to spark discussion about the state\’s unique system of nominating political candidates.\r\n \r\n The research group has just released a report on the caucus and convention system and will host a debate featuring Utah Republican and Democratic leaders next month.
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