Research

What are the Effects of Utah Income Tax Rate Cuts?

1. Introduction With state budget surpluses and record high state reserve account balances, Utah lawmakers are considering policy reforms for the 2023 legislative session that continue to support the state’s growth while leaving some reserves available for potential economic downturn in the future. For the third time since 2018, a cut in the Utah individual […]

Public Interest Comment for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on the Intersection of Privacy, Equity, and Civil Rights

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration asks a series of crucial questions in this proceeding. It seeks to understand how commercial data collection and use, especially through artificial intelligence (AI) methods, might adversely affect underserved or marginalized communities through disparate impacts. Importantly, it wants to understand how “specific data collection and use practices potentially create […]

What Should Policymakers Do about Social Media and Minors?

Calls for stricter regulations on social media and minors are coming at policymakers from all angles. The safety of our children is a topic of society-wide importance. However, getting these policies right is at least as important as getting them passed in the here and now.

The Impact of Wildfires on Internal Migration in the United States

Fighting and recovering from wildfires is expensive. And with more wildfires, increasing amounts of taxpayer funds are directed to at-risk communities in order to mitigate and fight fires. This paper finds that following the first occurrence of a wildfire, communities experience increases in net migration, home values, annual payroll, and a slight decrease in the low-income population.