Libertas Institute just released our first Libertas Insights/Overton Insights poll, gauging how Utahns feel about their state and various policy issues. You can explore the full results here.
Recent Libertas Institute polling shows something increasingly rare in public policy: broad agreement across party lines. On education policy in particular, Utah voters are neither divided nor uncertain. They are aligned.
A recent Libertas Institute/Overton Insights poll asked Utah voters whether they would support a small microschool of 25 or fewer students opening in their neighborhood, operating in a home or community space, and following basic rules for parking, safety, and noise. Sixty-nine percent said they would support it.
That support crosses political lines. Seventy-four percent of Republicans expressed support for microschools, along with 66% of Democrats. Few policy issues generate this level of bipartisan agreement. For Utah legislators and local governments, microschools are no longer a controversial or fringe concept. They are a widely accepted option that voters are ready to see reflected in zoning, building, and education policy.
The same poll also shows strong public support for continued occupational licensing reform. Of those asked, 60% favor changes to the current system, ranging from removing bachelor’s degree requirements completely, to limiting bachelor’s degrees requirements to professions with clear public risk.
Here again, support spans party lines. Sixty-one percent of Republicans and 58% of Democrats support licensing reform. Utah lawmakers have already taken meaningful steps in this direction, including introducing a bill this year recognizing military experience for civilian licensure and ongoing reviews by the Department of Occupational and Professional Licensing to eliminate or reduce unnecessary requirements.
Taken together, these results send a clear signal. On both microschools and occupational licensing, Utah voters support practical reforms that lower barriers. Policymakers have rare bi-partisan permission to act and can do so confidently.
We urge legislators to take the steps necessary to further these two policies in Utah.
