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MANDATORY STATE MEDICAL IDs AND THE DMV I have received hundreds of emails over the last few days from concerned Utahans who read or heard that the legislature was considering implementing state ID cards that would have to be carried at all times and mandatory COVID-19 testing. I looked through our interim meeting agenda, and this is where I believe …

TRANSPARENCY AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM My heart goes out to all those who have been the victims of mistreatment, harassment, and/or violence because of bias. We all have biases–that doesn’t make us bad, it just makes us human. I am trying to overcome my own biases by opening my mind and heart and by being willing to listen and …

Congratulations to our graduates! This is was certainly a crazy, unexpected, non-traditional last semester. Kudos to all the students and parents that made it through. I love seeing the lawn signs congratulating our graduating seniors–good luck in all you choose to do! BUDGET CUTS  All legislators are assigned to an appropriations subcommittee. These subcommittees are charged with reviewing budgets, eliminating inefficiencies, and prioritizing …

I am so grateful to live in Utah and for the great people in this state. Thank you for your engagement and support. Please reach out to me with any questions or issues that you have. I don’t know all the answers, but there are great people up at the Capitol who can help you and me navigate through whatever …

HB 3009 LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMERGENCY RESPONSE On Thursday and Friday, the Utah House met for our Special Session to address issues related to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was very different to meet online–it was definitely less enjoyable and made it more difficult to collaborate–but our tech crew at the Capitol did such a good job of setting it up so …

SPECIAL SESSION The legislature will likely call ourselves into a special session as early as next week. Because of the restrictions in place, there will not be committee hearings for the bills we will be discussing, but a time and process will be set up for public comment–I will let you know what and when that will be when I …

Thank you for the opportunity to serve in the Utah House!  I feel very honored to represent the great people in my district.  CORONA VIRUSCorona virus is at the top of everyone’s mind, and I have received a lot of questions about what Utah is doing to combat it. The governor has the executive authority to declare a state of emergency, …

If you would like to watch my Friday Facebook Live from last week, click here. The Third Time is the Charm…I hope We have been talking about the structural imbalance in our budget for well over a year. Because of the economy, we have had large surpluses in our education fund–which is made up of revenue from income taxes and is constitutionally mandated to …

Bail Reform I, and every other legislator in the House, received hundreds of emails over the last two days asking us to vote against HB 206 Bail and Pretrial Release Amendments. These emails were computer generated from a platform created by The American Bail Coalition in Franklinville, New Jersey, they all said the exact same thing based on misinformation, and only one was from a …

Here is an update on the bills I have been working on.  This week, I presented two of my bills that had been passed by the House to the Senate Committees to which they were assigned. They were HB 205 Students With Disabilities Amendments and HJR 6 Joint Resolution on the Benefits of Therapy Animals. I am very excited that HB 205 passed unanimously out …