Utah is facing enormous pressure with the high cost of housing. Salt Lake County in particular is suffering from inaccessible housing markets and high rents. The cost of housing is causing negative impacts on the economy, and our quality of life. The state has a lot of power to change this dynamic. The first step is changing tax law to benefit owner-occupied homes and discourage private equity acquisition of single-family homes. Thirty percent of housing units in Salt Lake County are corporate owned. We must find ways to discourage corporate ownership and allow real people to own the properties they live in.

We must take bold and dramatic action to save the Great Salt Lake right now. We have run out of time for small fixes.

We cannot deny that Utah is one of the fastest growing states in the country, and much of that growth is happening on the Wasatch Front. We are constrained by mountains on one side and the Great Salt Lake on the other. We need to invest in development policies that use less land, and less water but still allow people to live and flourish in this great state.

The cornerstone of a strong economy is a healthy and well-educated population. We must invest more into our public schools and end the wasteful use of public money on individual households with the Utah Fits All scholarship. We also must restore Utah’s commitment to funding education. The legislature has been slashing taxes for those earning high incomes in the state, which results in the burden of education funding going to property owners in local communities. We must restore education funding from income taxes and reduce the burden of property taxes on local owners.

Every day I see the haze in our skies that blocks our mountain views I worry about what consequences my children will face. It is a challenging problem but one we know how to fix. We must invest in clean public transportation. Our skies will not be clear until we reduce our reliance on cars. Traffic congestion continues to get worse. Building more roads has proven to make more traffic and create worse air quality. We must invest more in efficient public transportation and active transportation networks, and less in dirty, destructive roads.

For-profit health insurance companies have proven to be only interested in CEO pay and Wall Street bonuses. We must act now to protect affordable access to healthcare for all Utahns.

Tax policy can be adjusted to lower property taxes for home owners. The state needs to legislate that cities have the option to impose a land value tax. This method of taxation punishes land speculators while rewarding home owners.