Election Results

While election results are still rolling in across the state and country, I am very pleased to see the widespread support from voters in our district. Thank you to everyone that helped on the campaign and especially thank you to everyone that voted.

I am especially proud of our campaign committee and volunteers for running a positive campaign that focused on the issues. I know that people in Provo and Springville value integrity and this is reflected in the results.

I am moving forward with my plans to represent you at the upcoming legislative session. Here are some specifics.

What I will do doing about the economy

As I have mentioned before, the main economic problem facing us right now is inflation. Getting inflation under control must be done at the federal level, so there isn’t really anything for us to do at the state level. However, there are some things we can do to help offset the damage that inflation is doing to family budgets.

• Property taxes for homeowners in our area skyrocketed this year do to a combination of inflation-driven value increases and increases in local tax rates. I will be working with my colleagues to find ways to provide relief to homeowners and prevent this from happening again in the future.
• Even though we have created a credit to protect social security benefits, as many as two-thirds of social security recipients are paying state income tax on those benefits. I have requested a priority bill to eliminate this unfair double taxation of social security benefits.
• I will be supporting a decrease in the overall income tax rate. Hopefully we can cut the rate by a quarter percent or more.
• Of course, I will be continuing my work to eliminate unnecessary and burdensome regulations on small businesses and workers.

What I expect to happen in the State Legislature

In addition to putting our main focus on the economy and providing some relief to taxpayers, there will be many other issues for us to consider. Here are my predictions for what might happen on some big issues:

• Election Reform – We made a lot of progress last session improving security and transparency of our elections to shore up confidence that the elections are conducted fairly. I expect additional proposals this year to continue to refine and improve areas of election law.
• State Autonomy – The main concern that has come up over the summer is pushing back on efforts to bully the state into adopting specific policies by threatening our access to credit and bond markets. Our State Treasurer, Marlo Oaks, is working with legislators to find ways to ensure that our legislature is free from outside pressures to pursue environment, social, and governance policies that are in the best interests of our state.
• Water – The drought and its impact on the Great Salt Lake and Utah Lake will be a huge topic of discussion. The work has already begun to find solutions to preserve our future water resources.
• Public Education – For the most part, the question will center on providing adequate funding. I will be advocating for both increased and flexible funding for local public education.
• Social Services – I have been working for a long time to find better ways to ensure that the most vulnerable among us can meet their basic needs. For the most part, the best way to do this is to have a strong economy where they can participate and provide for themselves (provident living) and achieve financial independence. I am working on updates to our poverty policies that will support this goal. At the same time, I recognize that there are some that through no fault of their own are permanently dependent on others for care. We need to continue to find compassionate ways to support families that are placed in these difficult circumstance.