Sutherland Institute

The Institute strives to convene voices on all sides of important issues and facilitate sound, community-driven policy solutions. Newsletters, mailings, and events are all critical to both education and engagement. Newsletters provide summaries on important and topical issues. Events are held to coincide with policy publications and are held when topics rise to the level of public interest. Keynote speakers, ranging from elected officials to local and national subject experts, are joined by panelists representing diverse views.

The Institute staffs policy experts who are also registered lobbyists. The Institute reports its lobbying activities to the irs using the expenditures test under a section 501(h) election. Qualified and designated staff attend legislative sessions, interim sessions, and special sessions at capitol hill in Utah, and, at times, in Washington dc. Lobbyists are available to testify on the floor and before committees and sub-committees, meet with legislators, and determine areas of need with respect to the history and implications of pending legislation. Communications are shared on a nonpartisan basis through printed publications, fliers and emails. The Institute can provide policy research at a depth and scope that is difficult to obtain otherwise for members of a part-time legislature.

As a think tank, policy research on complex issues is core to the operations of the Institute. This includes active studies of current and historical academic research, proposed legislation in Utah - the region - and nationally. Collaboration with other think tanks, issues-oriented organizations and educational institutions, is part of the process as well. The Institute monitors social and legislative efforts that threaten to limit free market function, religious liberty, and the prioritization of families. Potential limitations are often embedded in seemingly unrelated or nebulous legislation, which necessitates a careful and ongoing watch of priority areas.