PRESS RELEASE
August 12, 2004

Contact: Stephen Kroes, Executive Director
(801) 272-8824, ext. 5
(801) 573-8824 (mobile)
steve@utahfoundation.org

Candidates For Governor Answer Detailed Questions On Their Policy Agendas

Utah Foundation has released today answers from gubernatorial candidate Scott Matheson, Jr. to a detailed questionnaire on the top issues facing Utah. The document is available at www.utahpriorities.net and is prominently linked on the front page of the website. Answers from Jon Huntsman, Jr. were previously posted in June of this year.

In his response, Mr. Matheson expresses his views on a wide variety of issues, including school choice, improving educational quality, developing an adequate water supply, improving health care, dealing with crime, tax issues, and improving Utah’s environment.

Steve Kroes, Executive Director of Utah Foundation, said, "Now voters have a resource to compare the positions of Scott Matheson and Jon Huntsman on the issues that the voters themselves said were most important this year. By reading both candidates' statements, you can see their different approaches. For example, Mr. Huntsman states that his 'economic plan will be a boon to education' while Mr. Matheson says 'education is the engine that drives our economy.' Both express a desire for a strong education system and a strong economy, but one would build the economy by strengthening education, while the other would build the education system by strengthening the economy."

Other differences are noteworthy: Mr. Huntsman favors a tuition tax credit proposal that would allow parents to spend some of their tax money on private school tuition, while Mr. Matheson favors school choice between public schools without using public money for private school tuition. On health care issues, Mr. Matheson proposes a number of state government actions, such as creating state sponsored purchasing pools for prescription drugs and expanding Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, while Mr. Huntsman focuses more on reducing government regulation and enhancing the private sector’s ability to improve health care.

This release is part of a larger project called Utah Priorities, a project of Utah Foundation designed to focus attention on the most important issues on voters’ minds during this crucial election year. Utah Foundation surveyed voters to compile a list of the top ten issues and is performing independent research on those issues. This research is designed to further inform voters about the issues and to promote a more informed debate on these issues among the candidates.

The questionnaire focused on the top ten issues identified in the Utah Priorities survey:

1. Public Education
2. Jobs & Economic Development
3. Water Supply & Quality
4. Health Care
5. Crime & Security
6. Higher Education
7. Taxes
8. Dealing with Growth
9. Environment, Air Quality & Hazardous Waste
10. Parental Rights

Research briefs on these issues, as well as the candidates statements, are available at www.utahpriorities.net, and readers can subscribe at no cost to receive further research briefs or news summaries on these issues by email.

Utah Foundation is a nonprofit, non-advocacy research organization. Our mission is to encourage informed public policy making and to serve as Utah's trusted source for independent, objective research on crucial public policy issues. Learn more about Utah Foundation at www.utahfoundation.org or www.utahpriorities.net.

# # #