WHEW! WHAT A YEAR!
From shrinking lakes and reservoirs to rising prices and worker shortages, 2022 delivered dramatic impacts to Utah.
While this year’s flush $25 billion state budget helped, it couldn’t provide instant cures for such far-reaching, complex challenges.
PARCHED
By April, over 99 percent of the state suffered severe drought, prompting Gov. Spencer Cox to issue a state of emergency. That action opened the door for communities and farmers to apply for state and federal resources.
By that time, all 29 counties experienced drought conditions, three of Utah’s top 42 reservoirs dropped below 20 percent full, and three had shriveled to below the 5 percent mark. The Great Salt Lake is also suffering, having shrunk to less than a third of its size in the 1990s.
While drought is nothing new to Utah, having affected the state for eight of the past 10 years, this year’s severity could not be ignored.
In October, House Speaker Brad Wilson hosted the 2nd annual Great Salt Lake Summit, which brought researchers, policymakers and officials together to steer future conservation and preservation efforts.
“Protecting and preserving the Great Salt Lake is a marathon, not a sprint,” Wilson said in a press statement, predicting the need for extensive collaboration for many years. “And while we may never fully see the impacts of our work, this is simply a race we cannot afford to lose.”
Wilson also announced his intent to create the nonprofit Water Ways, a public-private partnership aimed at raising conservation awareness.
In November, Cox suspended new water appropriations within the Great Salt Lake Basin due to its dramatic shrinkage, affecting much of the Wasatch Front. The aim is to better manage remaining water supply.
During their 2022 general session, Utah lawmakers approved $40 million for Great Salt Lake restoration – part of its nearly $500 million investment in water infrastructure, planning and management.
In Cox’s November press release, Senate Pres. Stuart Adams described that action as “effectively changing decades of major water policy in Utah.”
But evidently it’s just the beginning.
“We are committed to doing more to preserve and protect this critical resource,” Adams said.
HOMELESS IN A HOUSING BOOM
While new construction of multi-family dwellings dots the landscape throughout Utah’s cities and suburbs, the state’’s growing homeless population will most likely find it all out of reach.
In June, Utah’s Office of Homeless Services – part of the Department of Workforce Services – released this year’s Point in Time counts, an annual and imprecise measure of homeless individuals tallied on a single January night.
That number remained roughly the same as the year before with 3,556 in 2022 compared to 3,565 in 2021.
The Office of Homeless Services pointed to the pandemic effect that expanded the numbers of newly homeless in 2021 to 7,712 – almost 1,000 more than in 2020. This 14 percent jump marked the first such increase in five years, sadly keeping pace with national trends.
“Individuals and families are experiencing housing instability at higher rates, which often leads to homelessness and increases the need for crisis response services,” Tricia Davis, the Office’s assistant director said in the June press release.
Homeless response systems had to evolve and adapt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Davis added.
Former state Senate Pres. Wayne Niederhauser, tapped to serve as Utah’s Homeless Coordinator in April 2021, acknowledged that significant work still needs to be done to meet the growing need.
“Coordination is a key principle of success. The Office of Homeless Services is committed to working and collaborating with all stakeholders,” Niederhauser said in the press release.
In the 2022 Annual Data Report on Homelessness, Niederhauser credited lawmakers with passing two key bills earlier this year – SB238 allocated $55 million for deeply affordable housing with wraparound services, and HB440 appropriated $5 million in mitigation funds for cities with qualifying shelters. Changes were also made to the state’s distribution formula.
BATTLING THE ELEMENTS
Utah just weathered a record-busting summer with 34 days in triple digits. Now with the onset of winter, freezing temperatures, sometimes coupled with wind and precipitation, deliver the other extreme – and both are hazardous and potentially deadly for people without reliable shelter.
The nonprofit Unsheltered Utah organized in December 2020 to help fill the daily needs of people living on the streets and to also help connect them to resources, services, jobs and housing.
The grassroots organization is now well-known for consistently showing up to fill that gap through donations and networking. A recent post on its Facebook page issued the plea to “Don’t Let the Chill Kill” – seeking donations of winter clothing.
Unsheltered Utah’s Executive Director Wendy Garvin recently posted this specific and dire need: “Friends, we are adding two new folks to our hotel program, each of them has a small infant and there is no more space in any of the SLCO programs.”
Garvin noted that permanent housing is always the goal. But that takes time to materialize.
On Nov. 28, the Department of Workforce Services announced the need for additional homeless beds this winter.
The Salt Lake Valley Coalition to End Homelessness pledged to provide 340 overflow beds for unsheltered individuals at the following locations: St. Vincent De Paul Dining Hall (65), former Calvin Smith Library in Millcreek (100), Pamela Atkinson Resource Center (75), Gail Miller Resource Center (50) and Geraldine E. King Resource Center (50).
For families experiencing homelessness, hotel/motel rooms should now be available, according to the DWS post.
LABOR SHORTAGES
Businesses and vital services around the state – including schools (teachers and support staff), restaurants and health care providers – are struggling to hire and retain employees.
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, there are only 41 unemployed Utahns per 100 open jobs.
At the end of September, the Department of Workforce Services reported Utah’s unemployment rate at 2.1 percent with 36,200 unemployed workers, while the state’s job growth came in at 3.5 percent.
In June, the U of U’s Daily Utah Chronicle shined a light on nursing shortages that have reached crisis levels and threaten to compromise delivery of life-supporting services.
Nurses said they’re exhausted from working mandatory overtime and having to pick up extra shifts. One nurse described the staffing situation as bare minimum and skeleton style.
And wages for these trained professionals have failed to keep pace with Utah’s skyrocketing housing costs.
Earlier this year, an online petition to raise Utah’s nursing wages gathered over 4,700 signatures. The letter details why health care workers exit the state in droves for better pay and working conditions elsewhere.
It also described the 30 percent income deficit that healthcare workers face, with Salt Lake City now ranked 18-22 percent more expensive than the national average in terms of cost of living and Utah nurses earning almost 18.5 percent less than the national average.
“We are not experiencing a nursing shortage; we are experiencing the revolt of an undervalued workforce. Heroes work here, they just can’t park here,” the letter said.
As recently reported in The Salt Lake Tribune, restaurants also got caught in the crunch as they struggle to hire and retain workers while having to raise wages and pay more for food.
That all translates to customers seeing higher menu prices and likely waiting longer to get served.
Even the new Utah State Prison is woefully understaffed, as recently reported by the Utah Investigative Journalism Project. In October, only 254 out of 650 positions were filled, indicating a 61 percent vacancy.
So remaining corrections officers – who are embedded in the same space with inmates – must work mandatory overtime and extra shifts, routinely working 72 to 84 hours per week.
One former administrator warned that the bare-bones staffing put officers at risk: “You could have a complete riot and it could end in catastrophe and even lives lost.”
SOARING PRICES
In addition to skyrocketing housing costs, other basic needs have also become budget-busters.
Through most of the summer, gas prices in Utah hovered near $5 per gallon, cramping wallets and lifestyles. Utah’s prices ranked among the highest nationwide.
In June, USA Today reported that “President Joe Biden’s approval ratings have tanked as gas prices and inflation have soared.” But it also pointed to higher oil prices as the culprit, not Biden’s policies.
But sticker shock from filling gas tanks worked handily as a Republican talking point until prices leveled out this fall. And by November, Republicans managed to retake the U.S. House but not the Senate.
In September, KSL reported on the jump in grocery prices due to several factors – including severe weather, supply chain interruptions, the avian flu, and the war in Ukraine. Food prices rose 11.4% in August, a 13.5% increase over the same time a year ago.
In November, the Standard-Examiner reported on food insecurity, noting that basics such as eggs and milk had become luxury items for cash-strapped Utahns who had to seek help from food banks. .
IN THE END
How much Utah lawmakers can accomplish to ease the gap between workers’ pay and increased living costs remains to be seen.
The Volcker Alliance, a New York based nonprofit, recently recognized Utah policy makers for smart budgeting, based on a paper written by Phil Dean, chief economist for the U of U’s Kem C. Gardner Institute.
“The new report found that Utah used restricted account reserves as a budget buffer for new, one-time capital expenditures. The state also distinguished between one-time and ongoing revenues and appropriations and stress checked its budget,” Volcker’s press release said. “These actions are in line with the Alliance’s recommendations for sustainable budget balancing.”
On Dec. 9, Gov. Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson unveiled their upcoming priorities for spending the coming year’s whopping $28 billion budget. Their proposal includes:
- $1.3 billion in tax relief over three years
- $200.7 million for teacher compensation package totaling $6,000 per year
- $516 million for water conservation, agriculture optimization, infrastructure
- $150 million for housing including $11.5 million for first-time home buyers
- $53.5 million for mental health resources
- $53.5 million for domestic violence prevention and victim support
- $16 million for family support services
“This is a budget that reflects fiscal conservatism and family values by investing in people, and expanding opportunities for Utahns across the state,” Gov. Cox said in a press release. “Our state is growing and this budget invests in the things that we know work.”
The Legislature’s 45-day general session begins Jan. 17 and ends March 3 at midnight. Much of its work revolves around allocating the state’s tax dollars.
