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Utah Legislative Update 2022
The Utah Legislature passed several bills during the 2022 session that will help those who are poor and disadvantaged rise up to become free and prosperous. One is Senate Bill 35--Expungement Modifications. This bill sponsored by Sen. Todd Weiler makes the process...
A Heart Full of Love . . . or Disdain?
What do you think when you see a person on the street or elsewhere who is wearing worn, outdated clothing and appears...
A Strong Economy Isn’t Enough: 280,000 Utahns Live in Poverty and Need Help
Utah's economy is one of the best in the nation. State leaders rightly trumpet our success and rankings throughout the...
Eviction Mediation Can Help Prevent Homelessness
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ("CDC") recently announced it was ending its eviction moratorium and...
Poverty Measures Don’t Accurately Measure Poverty
Poverty measurement guidelines are frequently used as a tool to determine who qualifies for government benefits and other assistance. The problem is that these guidelines do not accurately reflect a...
Monetary Bail Is Harmful to People Who Are Poor
Government created monetary bail to hold people who have been accused of crimes accountable, but the bail system unfairly and disproportionately harms those who are poor. Indeed, monetary bail...
Reviewing the Necessity of Utah’s Occupational Licenses
On January 7, 2021, one of newly elected Gov. Spencer Cox's first actions was to issue an order requiring state agencies to "review all occupational licenses to ensure they are truly necessary and...
Biden Is Right: Americans Should Not Receive Unemployment Benefits if They Can Work
There has been some debate about President Biden's recent statement that Americans who turn down jobs won't be able to receive unemployment benefits. There shouldn't be any debate at all. Prior to...
“Returnships” for People Returning to Work
Utah Governor Spencer Cox and Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson recently signed an executive order requiring most state agencies to "identify new ways to provide meaningful returnship...
Support for NV Bill AB219: Sealing Criminal Records When Charges Have Been Dismissed
We support Nevada bill AB219, which would allow courts to automatically seal the record of a person when a prosecutor chooses not to move forward or the charges are dropped. It would also allow for...
Support for Utah Bill HB 68: Full Disclosure for Tenants
Utah bill HB 68 (Rental Expenses Disclosure Requirements) would make the rental process for tenants more fair and transparent by requiring landlords to disclose specific information before a...
Support for Utah Bill SB 165: Automatic Removal from the Sex Offender Registry
We support SB 165, which would automatically remove from the sex and kidnap offender registry former prisoners who meet all the qualifications for removal. Here is our statement: People who have...
Support for Utah Bill SB 50: Giving Youth Who Commit Crimes a Second Chance
We support Utah Bill S.B. 50, which makes sure that people who commit crimes in their youth are treated proportionally to their age, even if the crime is discovered in their adulthood. It also keeps...
Support for AJR1: Removing Demeaning Labels from NV Constitution
We support Nevada resolution AJR1, which would change language in the Nevada Constitution from "the Insane, Blind and Deaf and Dumb" to "persons with a significant mental illness, persons who are...
No One Should Have to Choose Between Their Dignity and a Paycheck
Nearly all of us would agree that employers should not be allowed to refuse to hire or fire an employee because she is a woman, Hispanic, Catholic, or pregnant. But in Utah and Nevada these types of...
Children with Criminal Records Should Be Given an Automatic Second Chance
Just in 2019, 12,243 youth and children (age 17 or younger) were arrested in Utah. In 2018, 13,292 were arrested. Some of these youth were arrested for serious offenses (murder, rape, robbery,...
The Value of Mentors in Helping People Rise Above Poverty
Living in poverty can mean dealing with a lot of stress because a person is faced with one crisis after another: "How will I pay the rent?" "Now that I've paid the rent, how will I put food on the...
The Wheel of Fortune: Why Looking Down on the Poor and Disadvantaged Is a Bad Idea
Have you ever seen a person who is homeless taking refuge under a shade tree in the summer heat, with his sleeping bag and bundles of meager belongings, and thought: "I'm so glad that's not me," or...
How We Respond to the Homelessness Crisis in Salt Lake City Will Define Us
Board member Derek Miller recently wrote an op-ed for the Deseret News discussing the dire situation of hundreds of people who have become homeless in Salt Lake City. He compares their situation to...
NGFF Changes Its Name to Transcend Together and Has New Leadership
SALT LAKE CITY -- Next Generation Freedom Fund ("NGFF"), a non-profit dedicated to lifting every person who is poor and disadvantaged, has changed its name to Transcend Together. The new name...
Clean Slate Law Helps Some Utahns with Criminal Records, But We Can Do More
In 2019, the Utah Legislature passed a bill that allows some people with nonviolent, misdemeanor criminal records to have their convictions automatically expunged under certain conditions. This law...
Utah Ranks 6th on the U.S. Prosperity Index, Nevada 46th
The Legatum Institute based in London has published state rankings as part of its United States Prosperity Index 2020. The Index uses 200 indicators in 11 categories to measure prosperity among the...
Romney’s Faith Should Move Him to a Humane Immigration Policy
CEO Paul Mero recently wrote an op-ed for the Salt Lake Tribune urging Senator Mitt Romney to use a human approach in addressing immigrants on the southern border of the United States. Here is an...
Utah and Nevada Rank in the Bottom Four for Mental Health Among the States
According to Mental Health America, Utah ranks 48th out of 51 states (and D.C.) in overall mental health (not good), 50th in the nation for adult mental health, and 41st for youth. Nevada fares even...
Utah Needs a Child-centered Approach to Fighting Poverty
Paul Mero recently wrote an op-ed for the Salt Lake Tribune in which he highlights new research challenging many assumptions about how to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty. One conclusion...
Five Steps to Build a Transcendant Political Culture in Utah
President and CEO Paul Mero recently published an op-ed in the Salt Lake Tribune providing some basic steps for creating a transcendant political culture in Utah. Here are some excerpts: First, we...
New Research Pinpoints Lives and Circumstances of IGP Children and Families
A new report sheds interesting light on children in intergenerational poverty and their families. Here are the key findings: Most IGP Parents and Teens see nothing wrong with their current situation...
Report: Intergenerational Poverty in Utah, 2019
Utah’s Intergenerational Welfare Reform Commission has provided its latest update on intergenerational poverty in Utah. Learn more about it here.
