Gov. Spencer Cox’s WISE Initiative focuses on the four pillars of aging well: Wealth, Independence, Security, and Engagement for Utah’s senior residents.
After announcing his recommendations for Utah’s proposed $30.6 billion 2026 fiscal year budget, including eliminating the state tax on Social Security benefits, Cox took his WISE program to counties throughout the state to hear more about what seniors had to say.
Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson attended the session in Logan on May 30.
“We have a significant need to make sure that we are actively and intentionally looking at the needs of our older population,” Henderson said.
In addition to senior residents, Henderson also heard community concerns from members of the Bear River Area Agency on Aging and a representative from the Alzheimer’s Association.
“Not everything can be done by the state — not everything should be done by the state. We need our community partners,” Henderson said.
Residents expressed concerns regarding zoning regulations, transportation access, mental health resources, and more.
Some attendees discussed the stresses of taking care of elderly parents on their mental and financial state.
“We learned about some of the challenges, but also some of the really good things that are happening,” Henderson said.
Now that the sessions have concluded, the state plans to form work groups to discuss and create policy recommendations.
“The next step is to take all of this information that we’ve learned through these eight different listening tours and synthesize them and just prioritize the things that we can do to make our seniors’ lives a little bit better and a little bit easier,” Henderson said.
