SALT LAKE CITY – In the run-up to the 2025 general session of the Legislature, Gov. Spencer Cox is proposing investing more than $170 million in programs for Utah’s senior citizens.

Cox announced that proposed investment during a meeting of Utah leaders from government, business and academia at the O.C. Tanner Building in Salt Lake City on Jan. 14.

“Our aging population has spent decades contributing to our communities,” Cox told the symposium participants. “It’s time to return the favor. We must ensure they can age with dignity and independence.”

State officials are calling the governor’s proposed initiative the WISE program, an acronym for promoting wealth, independence, security and engagement with older Utahns.

While Utah remains the youngest state in the nation, the governor’s staff explains that the state is beginning to see a shift in its demographics. Birth rates in the Beehive State are declining and life expectancy is rising. Utah’s older adults are projected to more than double by 2060.

Specifically, the WISE initiative will focus on the elimination of the state income tax on social security benefits; expanding home-based care to support seniors aging in place; strengthening protections against fraud and exploitation targeting the elderly; ensuring access to healthy food for seniors; and, promoting the overall well-being of Utah’s aging population by supplying access to resources that are critical to dignity and independence.

Utah is one of only eight states that still tax social security benefits.

In December, when Cox announced his $30.6 billion state budget for the next fiscal year, the governor’s staff estimated that his proposed change in tax policy would provide relief to more than 150,000 Utah senior citizens, many of whom face unique challenges due to fixed incomes and inflation.

The revision of the state tax code would also build on prior years of incremental tax relief provided by the Legislature.

But legislative leaders – including House Speaker Mike Schultz (R-Hooper) and Senate President Stuart Adams (R-Layton) — appear to be more inclined to consider another income tax rate cut rather than the outright elimination of the tax on social security benefits.



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