Utah News

SALT LAKE CITY — A coalition of Latino church leaders from around Utah has formed a new organization to promote the family and conservative causes.

The Asociación de Ministros Unidos en Utah, led by several evangelical pastors, will also serve as a link between grassroots communities and government leaders. It’s got the support of numerous elected Republican officials gauging by those who attended a public launch event on Wednesday, including Utah Attorney General Derek Brown, one of the speakers, and several members of the Utah Legislature.

“Our principles as an association are clear, and we don’t hide them — faith, family and biblical values,” Guillermo Rodriguez, president of the new group and a pastor, said at Wednesday’s event, held at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City. “We say this respectfully but with conviction — we’ll support every effort, every initiative and every leader who works to strengthen families, protect faith and religious liberty and promote conservative principles and values.”

The group, the United Ministers Association of Utah in English, has been quietly operating for the past few months. But its roots go back several years, to when Carlos Moreno, an immigrant from Venezuela and now a naturalized U.S. citizen, started reaching out to leaders of various churches in the Salt Lake County area to muster support for addressing the ills facing the nation.

Those efforts led to the new organization, and Moreno, now a Republican member of the Salt Lake County Council, addressed Wednesday’s meeting, focusing on faith as a basis for resolving problems. “I believe in the power of God. And I believe if we continue putting God first all the time, we’re going to succeed,” he said.

The group has raised some $40,000 and already pursued a range of initiatives, helping around 50 people with food, housing, legal representation costs and more. During the 2026 Utah Legislative session, the group supported a bill, HB411, calling for the creation of a three-digit dialing code for the National Human Trafficking Hotline, according to a presentation at Wednesday’s meeting. The measure failed in the Senate. It also backed SB193, which called for making Good Friday a legal holiday in Utah, and was signed into law by Gov. Spencer Cox.

“Our objective is to be a representative voice for conservative ministers and the community of Utah. We bring ethical leadership, community connection, local perspective and faith-based mission,” said Mari Fernandez, secretary of the group and a pastor.

Rodriguez expressed a desire to work with government officials while also listening to the people at the grassroots level the group represents.

“To our leaders and government authorities, today we say you can count on us. We are ready to serve, collaborate, listen and work together for real solutions,” he said. “To our community, we say your voice matters, your faith matters, your family matters and your future matters. To our pastors, ministers and churches, we say this is the time to unite.”

House Speaker Mike Schultz was listed as a speaker at Wednesday’s event but didn’t show up. U.S. Rep. Burgess Owens, a Republican, was also to have addressed the group but got called into session in Washington, D.C., and a staff member spoke in his place. Among the Utah lawmakers in attendance was Utah Rep. Karianne Lisonbee, R-Syracuse, who’s running for a U.S. House seat.

Jamie Renda, of Path Forward Utah and Hope of Utah, nonprofit groups she helped organize aimed at promoting political and community involvement among conservative people of color, pressed for the creation of the United Ministers Association of Utah. The new group is affiliated with Hope of Utah.

“The Latino community is not as engaged as it could be and as it should be, especially Latino conservatives,” she said. “We want their influence to be felt not just at a state level, but at a federal level and community level.”

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Renda sees overlap between Utah conservatives and the Latino community. For instance, many Latinos are very entrepreneurial, support limited government and are family-oriented and anti-abortion, she said.

What’s more, teaming with the broader conservative community can help Latinos build relationships that can aid them in pursuing their causes, perhaps immigration reform. “It’s just building those relationships,” Renda said.

After Wednesday’s presentations, Rodriguez stressed the importance of the group in unifying like-minded actors from across the religious spectrum. “If we can stand together and we can stay united, we can do more,” he said.

Around 15 evangelical churches are represented by the organization, but he said the new group has been reaching out to other churches outside the Latino community to serve as partners. So far, he said, connections with around 70 additional churches have been made.

“This is just starting. This is a movement,” said Rodriguez, currently an assistant at South Mountain Community Church, a nondenominational church based in Draper. “We can work with anybody who’s aligned with our core values — faith, family and biblical values.”

SALT LAKE CITY — College and finances. Finances and college.

It’s difficult to consider one without the other.

And even as thousands of young Utahns are donning caps and gowns and celebrating their graduation, personal finance issues questions surely linger for most college students:

Can I land a job? Will it pay me enough to begin making my college loans payments? And what about other money matters that define a postgraduate’s daily life?

A recent national survey focused on how American college students are feeling about their money situation at a moment when simply a trip to the gas pump or grocery store can trigger cash anxiety.

The WalletHub poll gathered college students’ attitudes toward money — ranging from their biggest post-graduation fear to how social media is influencing their spending habits.

Student anxieties: Paying off loans — and finding a job

When asked what spooks them the most about postgraduation life, 30% of respondents said student loan debt. Their fears are not unreasonable. The average student debt in the U.S. is now in the tens of thousands of dollars — and rising.

To better inform college-bound students who are making pricy student loan choices, the Education Department now includes an “earning indicator” on federal student loans applications, with information about specific schools’ postgraduation earning status.

Meanwhile, 29% of student-respondents said their biggest postgraduation fear was not finding a job. A quarter of respondents — 25% — answered “credit card debt.”

Another 16% responded “living with parents.”

Tuition and social media money trends

Tuition at private and public universities across the country has risen significantly over the past generation.

And while college students in Utah spend, nationally, the lowest share of their median annual household income on higher education — while also having the country’s lowest average of student debt — they are still managing tuition increases.

Last March, Utah’s higher education board approved a 2.82% systemwide tuition hike. A University of Utah student in 2026-2027, for example, will pay $317 more than the prior academic year for 15 credit hours.

But despite the rising costs, almost three-quarters of survey respondents consider their tuition a good investment. Not so much for 28% of respondents.

That generally positive attitude regarding the value of attending college revealed in WalletHub’s national survey tracks with Utahns.

In a recent Deseret News/Hinckley Institute poll, 61% of college-age respondents — age 18-34 — said they have at least some degree of confidence in Utah’s colleges and universities.

Those same respondents have slightly less confidence — 56% — in colleges and universities nationwide.

But while students seem generally satisfied with their tuition’s return on investment, a majority of WalletHub student respondents — 52% — believe their college is not doing enough to help them become financially literate.

Meanwhile, a third of college students have little patience for the government subsidizing overpriced tuition. When asked if the federal government should provide loans with expensive tuition, 33% said, “Nope.”

Social media platforms remain popular among American college students.

But affinity for, say, Instagram or TikTok can exact heavy financial costs. Social media-triggered “FOMO,” aka “fear of missing out,” is prompting some college students to make poor money choices.

More than half of the student-respondents — 53% — say they feel pressured by social media to spend beyond their means.