Student Population

I was asked to provide data regarding Utah's student population (ages 5-17) relevent to the working population (ages 15-64). This data indicates the relative burden each taxpayer shoulders to fund education. More students = a greater burden. Fewer students = less of a burden.

Utah has 31.2 students per 100 workers, the highest percentage in the Nation. Alaska (29.5), Texas (29.1), Arizona (29.1), and California (29) follow.

The jurisdictions with the fewest students per 100 workers are North Dakota (23), West Virgnia (22.9) and Washington, D.C. (19.3).

The implications of this data are significant. With many caveats and explanations, it should roughly translate that every 100 taxpayers in the most-burdened states are expected to fund an extra 1/3 of a classroom, compared to taxpayers in the bottom states.

You'll notice that many of the states with the highest student-to-taxpayer ratios are western states. Those states are doubly vexed by the fact that their property-tax base is one-half to one-third that of non-western states.

While most states lean heavily on the property tax to fund education, most of the land in the western states is still owned by the federal government, meaning it cannot be taxed by the States. Thus, the vast expanses of federal land in the West don't contribute tax revenues to education (thereby shifting the burden to the remaining base of private property and on taxpayers generally).

My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine . . .

. . . Pizzas. As you’ve probably heard by now, Pluto got hosed. I’m not going to make the decision in anger, but I’m contemplating running a resolution to acknowledge that Utah continues to recognize 9 planets.

Since when do astronomers get to call the shots on this sort of thing? They’re not even awake during the day, for heaven’s sake.

Two points to consider: (1) Has Pluto ever hurt anyone? No. (2) Does the mnemonic work without Pluto? No. "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine" makes no sense at all. Nine what? Nine Pizzas, of course! "P" for Pluto. See? That makes sense.

I’m sticking with the facts I learned at Ridgecrest Elementary in Houston. Pluto is a planet, and Texas won the Alamo.

Highway 18

Bluff Street turns into Highway 18 as it heads north out of St. George toward Winchester Hills, Diamond Valley, Veyo, and Enterprise. The tremendous growth north of town puts a lot of added pressure on Highway 18. Commuters racing to and from work increasingly compete with truck traffic on the road. New developments (like the Ledges and the Trails) will put even more pressure on the road.

The explosive growth on Highway 18 was not anticipated years ago when projects were prioritized for the Centennial Highway Fund and the State Transportation Implementation Plan. And, believe me, it is tough pushing funding to projects that aren’t on those lists (because it basically means that projects that did make those lists would be bumped back).

I am very pleased with the diligence UDOT has shown on Highway 18 (and many other Southern Utah projects, for that matter). Continually, UDOT has scraped together funds from various sources (usually, from the relatively smallish discretionary funding pots it has) to make improvements to Highway 18, including extra lanes for the climbs up to Winchester Hills and Diamond Valley. UDOT knows, I know, and everyone who drives Highway 18 knows, that Highway 18 needs a more comprehensive fix.

To address that, we managed to appropriate some “choke point project funding” this year for Highway 18. To the frustration of commuters (and, no doubt, the Ledges), construction started and stalled on Highway 18 this summer. The stall happened as negotiations took place to enlarge the scope of the project, reflecting the infusion of the additional funding. Our UDOT district engineer, Scott Munson, told me today that construction will start again by mid-September and run to the end of December. Four lanes will be put in from the top part of the first big climb (about the turn off to the Lee Snow’s place) to north of the Ledges overpass.

That’s a nice step in the right direction. I wish I could simply wave a magic wand and make all of our transportation woes go away on the state roads in our community (heck, if it’s a magic wand, I might as well shoot for all state roads and local roads, too). But, alas, I haven’t yet found that magic wand. It is a pleasure, though, to work with UDOT, the City of St. George, our federal delegation, and my other legislators to try to find solutions. It’s a big challenge, but with those good teammates, I like our odds.

Blogger Boy

I'm in Tennessee speaking on technology and policymaking.

Mostly, I'm highlighting our legislative website.

UPDATE (6 p.m. -- back home): One of the questions I get the most about blogging is how much time it takes. To answer that, and to show attendees how easy it is, I wrote and posted the entry above at the start of my presentation (while I spoke).

The theme of my presentation was that blogs (or any other technology) aren't the show. Rather, they are tools. The three main tasks of a governmental leader are to (1) get elected (to be in a position to unleash his/her particular genius on the state), (2) enact good policy, and (3) promote the institutions of representative democracy. Each of those tasks requires interactivity. Blogging is one of the best tools around to foster that interactivity.

Preparing the presentation, I thought back to 2001 when I entered the legislature. Then, it was very difficult to track how a representative voted on a particular issue. Part of it, I believe, was a fear that voters would "misinterpret" the data -- giving an individual vote inordinate weight, rather than consider it as one of many votes that arguably should be considered when assessing a leader's performance. However, no surprise here, the public is doing just fine with the tremendous ease to information it currently enjoys in Utah. More information serves to invite the public into the process and makes policymakers better as a result.

Gubernatorial Succession II

How do you interpret the Utah Constitution's provision regarding Gubernatorial Succession -- if a Governor were to leave office after 1 week, would the LG then serve for 2 years or 4 years?

Here is the text (for the hyperlink impaired):

Article VII, Section 11.

In case of the death of the Governor, impeachment, removal from office, resignation, or disability to discharge the duties of the office, or in case of a Governor-elect who fails to take office, the powers and duties of the Governor shall devolve upon the Lieutenant Governor until the disability ceases or until the next general election, when the vacancy shall be filled by election. If, during a vacancy in the office of Governor, the Lieutenant Governor resigns, dies, is removed, or becomes incapable of performing the duties of the office, the President of the Senate shall act as Governor until the vacancy is filled or disability ceases. If in this case the President of the Senate resigns, dies, is removed, or becomes incapable of performing the duties of the office, the Speaker of the House shall act as Governor until the vacancy is filled or disability ceases. While performing the duties of the Governor as provided in this section, the Lieutenant Governor, the President of the Senate, or the Speaker of the House, as the case may be, shall be entitled to the salary and emoluments of the Governor, except in cases of temporary disability.

The disability of the Governor or person acting as Governor shall be determined by either a written declaration transmitted to the Supreme Court by the Governor stating an inability to discharge the powers and duties of the office or by a majority of the Supreme Court on joint request of the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Such determination shall be final and conclusive. Thereafter, when the Governor transmits to the Supreme Court a written declaration that no disability exists, the Governor shall resume the powers and duties of the office unless the Supreme Court, upon joint request of the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, or upon its own initiative, determines that the Governor is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office. The Lieutenant Governor shall then continue to discharge these powers and duties as acting Governor. The Supreme Court has exclusive jurisdiction to determine all questions arising under this section.