by Elizabeth Garbe
Public Policy Director
Welcome to the 2013 General Session edition of Policy Matters.
Public policy advocacy is an essential component to achieving United Way of Salt Lake’s mission and goals. The public sector is a critical decision-maker and partner in providing health, education, and human services. State, local, and federal laws (as well as budget decisions), affect many of the critical programs that are necessary to create lasting changes.
Remember, YOUR voice is essential to ensuring that policies that promote successful communities and families pass.
United Way’s 2013 Policy Priorities
Last week, we unveiled our 2013 Policy Priorities at the annual Legislative Preview Breakfast. These priorities are an essential part of creating the path to change the odds for entire communities.
Our top two priorities this session are:
Senator Osmond’s High Quality Preschool Results-Based Financing bill – High quality preschool provides the necessary foundation for at-risk children to build upon. This reduces long-term costs of remediation and special education use in public education. It may also decrease juvenile justice costs, and future dependency on welfare.
Senator Weiler and Representative Menlove’s Utah 2-1-1 Referral Information Network bill — United Way 2-1-1 is the state’s free information and referral system. This bill will strengthen 2-1-1 by seeking a public-private partnership. We can help reduce duplication and save money through increased coordination by having one strong state system.
We will send out detailed information on both of these bills in the coming weeks. We will also be taking positions on a variety of other bills. A comprehensive list of the bills and budget items that United Way is working on will be posted on our website, and they will be linked in Policy Matters. You can get updates by following us on Twitter @uwsl or by opting-in for mobile updates.
We look forward to your participation over the next 45 days!
