SALT LAKE CITY – In the spirit of “collaboration” rather than preemption a dynamic that for several years now has undergirded policy discussions over what should be done to address Utah’s affordable housing crisis Gov. Spencer Cox invited mayors from across the state to the Governor’s Mansion in Salt Lake City on Thursday to talk.

SALT LAKE CITY – As more people move to the Beehive state, Utah’s resources are being stretched. Gov. Spencer Cox hopes a new executive order will address some of those growing pains. Cox announced the creation of the Blueprint for Utah’s Infrastructure, Land, and Development Coordinating Council on May 28. BUILD will bring together 12 state agencies and give 10 other entities like universities and municipalities the opportunity to add a representative if they choose to participate.

Utah’s average household has more buying power than anywhere else in the nation, according to research from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. That’s despite rising housing costs and reflects the Beehive State’s strong economic growth, Gardner Institute economists said.

The spring homebuying season in Utah is off to a slow start. At least that’s how Dejan Eskic, who studies the housing market at the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah, describes it.

SALT LAKE CITY – The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute recently dived into tax policies, as well as benefit and other programs, to see if Utah’s government policies create “marriage penalties” or “marriage bonuses.” It found a mixed bag.

SALT LAKE CITY – The data comes from a report by the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute on Utahn’s purchasing power. “A lot of times we think about income just at a really high level, it's money coming in. But as you start digging into the economic data, it turns out there are a bunch of different ways to measure that,” Kem C. Gardner Chief Economist Phil Dean said on KPCW's "Local News Hour."

MONTREAL — Gov. Spencer Cox kicked off a weeklong trade mission to Canada on Monday by telling top Quebec officials about Utah’s best-in-the nation economy. The state had the highest gross domestic product growth in the United States last year at 4.5%, according to the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.

SALT LAKE CITY – U.S. and Utah fertility rates are continuing a years-long slide, landing in both cases below the 2.1 births per woman that would keep the population size stable. That’s according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s national Center for Health Statistics. An analysis of the numbers by the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute found the U.S. fertility rate in 2023 — the last year with complete data — was 1.521, down 2.1% from the year before.

Utah’s population growth slowed slightly in 2024, but the Beehive State still added 50,392 more residents last year, with much of the growth in Utah and Salt Lake counties. Natural growth, the balancing of births to deaths, and migration were about equally responsible for the population increase. Migration numbers take the number of people moving in and out of the state to determine if migration rose or fell. Net migration was responsible for 52% of the growth, while natural increase accounted for 48% of the new residents.

SALT LAKE CITY – Deporting an immigrant or refugee who’s convicted of certain misdemeanors could get easier in Utah. State lawmakers want to increase the maximum penalty for violent class A misdemeanors and charges of driving under the influence to one year. This would walk back a 2019 law that decreased the maximum penalty to 364 days.