PRESS RELEASE
March 26, 2008

Contacts: Stephen Kroes, President
(801) 355-1400, ext. 5
(801) 573-8824 (mobile)

David Newell, Research Analyst
(801) 355-1400, ext. 6

THE UTAH PRIORITIES SURVEY: TOP TEN ISSUES FOR THIS POLITICAL YEAR

At a luncheon featuring Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., Utah Foundation today released its 2008 Utah Priorities Survey. This survey launches the 2008 Utah Priorities Project, an election-year effort by Utah Foundation to drive political dialogue towards addressing the most important issues facing our state. An executive summary of the survey and the complete survey report from Dan Jones and Associates are available online at www.utahfoundation.org.

The statewide Dan Jones survey found the top 10 issues of concern to registered Utah voters are:

1. Energy Issues, Including Utilities & Gasoline Prices
2. K-12 Education
3. Taxes and Government Spending
4. Healthcare
5. Immigration 
6. Crime and Security
7. Water Supply and Quality
8. Environmental Issues, Including Air Quality & Pollution
9. Transportation and Traffic
10. Dealing with Utah’s Growth

Describing the survey findings, Utah Foundation president Stephen Kroes said, “This year’s survey was something of a surprise, because we assumed education would come out on top again. But the hit on family budgets from rising gas prices has made energy issues the number one concern in this year’s survey.”

Of the top 10 issues, seven were also top concerns in the 2004 Utah Priorities Survey. New on the top 10 list this year are: energy issues, immigration, and transportation.

In addition to ranking the top issues, the survey also asked questions to understand the factors driving voter sentiment on each of these issues. For example, those respondents who rated K-12 education as an important concern were asked to rate a number of subtopics related to education, and their top concerns about education were funding, teacher quality, class size, and how well students are prepared for college or careers.

Kroes added, “We’re excited to kickoff a new Utah Priorities Project focused on these issues. In the next seven months we will be publishing research reports on each of these issues, holding public forums around the state, conducting online town hall events, sponsoring candidate debates on these issues, and persuading candidates to disclose how they plan to address these issues if elected.”

A centerpiece of the Utah Priorities Project is special project website at www.utahpriorities.net. The site is designed to provide information on the top issues, gather feedback from the public, provide candidate profiles and answers to questionnaires, and host online “town hall” events in which subject experts or political leaders will write about their take on the issues and answer comments and questions from readers.

The Utah Priorities Survey was a phone survey conducted by Dan Jones and Associates during January 11-25, 2008. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 4.0%. Results are also available for Washington County, showing some differences from the statewide results. See details at www.utahfoundation.org.

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The mission of Utah Foundation is to promote a thriving economy, a well-prepared workforce, and a high quality of life for Utahns by performing thorough, well-supported research that helps policymakers, business and community leaders, and citizens better understand complex issues and providing practical, well-reasoned recommendations for policy change.