Brian Diggs

HUTTO, Texas — When Alek Micklethwait received his electricity bill in May, he was stunned. It was $545, more than double what his family had been paying during cooler weather, since moving into a 1,600-square-foot home in Central Texas last September. It must be a mistake, he thought. But it wasn’t.

As the executive director of Family Promise Salt Lake, I see firsthand the impact that Utah's affordable housing crisis is having on our families. And, as our state coffers overflow with unprecedented abundance, I also see clearly what our state leaders can do about it.

FILE - In this Saturday, Nov. 8, 1997 file photo, actress Ellen DeGeneres, left, and her companion, Anne Heche, leave the Human Rights Campaign national dinner in Washington after DeGeneres received her civil rights award. President Clinton spoke earlier at the dinner, before the nation's largest lesbian and male homosexual group--the first president to appear before such an audience. (AP Photo/Brian K. Diggs) Brian K. Diggs You don't have any notifications.