Utah Poised To Rebound From Recession Quickly

SALT LAKE CITY -- A new study shows Utah may be poised to
recover from the recession more quickly than most states. The
reason, according to the conservative authors, is Utah's businessfriendly
environment.
This is a conservative study with a lot of praise for Utah's
conservative Legislature and its policies, but the forecast is a
pragmatic look at what businesses want and what Utah has.
Poised to attract more high-tech companies, more in research
and medicine, in recreation, tourism and energy; Utah may have
what it takes to climb out of the recession first.
"We do have a very attractive environment for business, and it's
been stable," said Sen. Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy.
Niederhauser is one of the legislators cited in the study "Rich
States, Poor States." Written on behalf of the conservative
American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, it claims Utah
is one of the states that has advantages over other states.
One of the advantages comes in the area of tax policy, specifically
income tax reform. Utah also has less government regulation and
involvement is a plus for businesses.
Gov. Jon Huntsman is also working to promote Utah as a future
renewable energy hub. Together, it could add up to an even more
prosperous future for Utah.
"There probably is not another state in America right now with
better practices, in terms of attracting, building and promulgating
renewable energy," Huntsman said.
At the same time, Utah has a chance to lead the way in using
prosperity to create a better life for people. It can do so in many
ways. One example is in being smart about health care reform.
"We're saying it's great the state is embarking on health system
reform. Let's make sure that, at the end of the day, those reforms
result in predictable costs for businesses and affordable costs for
employees so they can succeed on the job," said Judi Hilman,
with the Utah Health Policy Project.
By comparison, states like California and New York have been
raising taxes steadily. That has led to a very difficult downward
spiral for those states.
By Richard Piatt
Source: KSL March 17, 2009