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SJR401: A Blatant Grab for YOUR Voter Legislative Power

Update: If you are here because of recent social media posts about the passage of SJR401 on August 21, and would like to donate to Better Boundaries Utah for their “vote no” campaign, please use this link. If you would like to support my campaign running against Jordan Teuscher, please register with me at https://utah44.com/get-involved/.

In a specially called session this week, SJR401 was introduced specifically because the legislature is fearful that voters want to hold legislators accountable for actually doing their jobs. Let’s call out the coalition of Utah GOP legislators who are taking away Utahn’s rights to citizens initiatives: Sen Leader Stuart Adams, Rep Leader Mike Schultz, Sen Kirk Cullimore (chief sponsor) and Rep Jordan Teuscher (House sponsor).

For reference, here’s the bill: https://le.utah.gov/~2024S4/bills/static/SJR401.html

Let’s start by describing what they want to take away from us. Citizen Initiatives are literally a tool for “We the People” to have a voice when our representatives don’t effectively represent its citizens. The resolution introduced this week is seeking to take away legislative power from Utah citizens, and give that authority to the Utah legislature. Keep in mind that if this passes, state legislators are TAKING AWAY POWER from Utah voters. Powers to introduce important legislation. Powers to approve constitutional amendments. Powers that belong to us unless we give them away.

There is a REASON that Citizens Initiatives exist. Our LAST AND SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT privilege is to raise a vote to the people when our representatives either lack political will or (in Utah) suffer under a super majority that obstructs the people’s will.

We are a representative democracy, and we have a state constitution with checks and balances. As citizens, we can vote for who represents us, we can create Citizen Initiatives, and we can sue or suffer under the legislation our representatives pass. I would mention impeachment but you have seen how our Utah legislator lacks the political will to deal with bad actors (like Natalie Cline) in their own party.

This year, a coalition of Utah GOP legislators were checked by the Utah Supreme Court for failing to represent Utah citizens, and now they are actively writing legislation to strip our rights away. They don’t like being checked by the courts, by the executive branch (although our current governor coddles to the legislature) or by us, the people. In their proclamation for the special session they warn about foreign interests. ONLY UTAH VOTERS can submit a Citizen Initiative. They are literally calling the interests of Utah voters “foreign interests”. Are you mad yet? You should be.

In their announcement leading up to this bill, they even admit their own impertinent behavior: “While past legislative overreach has understandably led to some distrust among the people…” but they have the gall to call a special legislative session specifically to write a bill that then STRIPS our voice as voters so they can continue the very same legislative overreach they are committing. We are even paying them to go into session so they can actively work against us. We are literally paying them right now to write laws to hurt us.

Here are 3 things all Utahns can do:

  1. CALL your legislator and tell them you are a constituent, and you want them to vote NO on this.
  2. If the bill passes, then YOU can vote NO on this initiative.
  3. In November, vote like it matters. Be informed, vote on all the races, and vote for people who will represent and LISTEN to you.

Do you Vote In House District 44? There’s One More Thing

If you live in Utah House District 44 (South Jordan, West Jordan) please consider voting for me in November. I listen. I’m committed to local representation & true Utah values that embrace community and respect for ALL people. It’s time to push the Teusch out.

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For Jordan, there is no South Jordan or West Jordan, there is only Jordan Teuscher

Jordan Teuscher is a representative elected in South Jordan and West Jordan. However, Jordan does nothing to represent South Jordan, and Jordan does nothing to represent West Jordan. 

What Jordan Teuscher does is promote himself, and a growing right-wing ideology.   

What has Jordan done?

  • He wants to suppress citizen initiatives.  He is the floor sponsor for SJR401 that will steal legislative rights away from hard working Utahns who draft, volunteer, collect signatures and vote on important citizen initiatives.
  • He doesn’t support working families. He legislated against public employees and teachers. 
  • He doesn’t like women. He voted against women’s access to private healthcare. 
  • He doesn’t like public schools.  He’s funneling money away from public schools through vouchers.  He’s attacking teachers and public school administrators. 
  • He doesn’t like LGBTQIA. Outside of our real priorities, he chose to legislate against 4 student athletes in Utah because they are trans
  • He doesn’t like renters and home buyers. He supported realtors and HOAs to keep costs of living high. He has reported more than $14,000 in campaign donations from realtor groups, property groups, insurance companies and financial institutions since 2022. 
  • He is rigging elections. He introduced a bill to knock out moderate candidates using the signature-gathering process (like Gov. Cox) who know the skewed Republican Primary is rigged against them. 
  • He voted for the proposal to RAISE the percent approval required for a citizens initiative to pass.
  • He is a copy/paste legislator introducing right-wing legislation from ALEC (https://www.commoncause.org/our-work/money-influence/alec/) that was also run in Texas and Florida. He’s doing the same thing working with the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_for_Government_Accountability) whose focus is to push, repackage & franchise other people’s ideas to implement. He literally takes his cues from national right-wing think tanks rather than the people in his district.  
  • He is taking money from white nationalist groups. In 2022 he accepted money from the Young Americans for Liberty (https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/kyle-bristow), a group with clear ties to the white nationalist movement in the US.

What has Jordan NOT done? 

  • No bills sponsored for infrastructure
  • No bills sponsored for public transit
  • No bills sponsored for cost of living
  • He doesn’t talk to South Jordan or West Jordan constituents
  • He isn’t engaged with local City Councils
  • He isn’t engaged with public employees 

What has Jordan done for himself? 

  • He feigns outrage at the Utah Supreme Court decision to allow Better Boundaries proceed with their gerrymandering case against the Utah Legislature
  • He is “deeply appalled” at the Utah Supreme Court decision to allow the Planned Parenthood injunction to remain in place while a lower court hears the case
  • He legislated to loosen laws around campaign funds
  • He wants to move oversight of elections from the Lt Governor’s office
  • He sponsored bills to allow discrimination on the basis of “free exercise of religion”
  • He introduced more bills on crypto currency and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)

Teuscher could more easily be summed up with a report card.  He received a 2024 overall score of “F” from Alliance for a Better Utah 

Check it out for yourself: https://progressreport.betterutah.org/legislators/rep-jordan-d-teuscher/

  • “F” for good government
  • “F” for equal rights
  • “F” for sustainable futures
  • “F” for strong communities

Is this the person you want to represent you in 2025?  It’s time for a change.  

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The Harris Nomination and Who We Are

A hand-drawn picture of Kamala Harris standing at a podium in front of an American flag. She has her hand raised, and says "I'm speaking".
Credit: Natalie Green

Part of the appeal of a Harris ticket is that we begin to see more of who we are in Kamala Harris. If you are a woman, or a person of color, or a young voter, there is a rising hope that things could change if we elect Kamala Harris as our next president. There are still concerns about who she will select for her running mate and how that choice will impact her campaign. There are questions about her stance on the Israel-Palestine war, and whether she will respond differently than Biden has. But she is strong, and promises to invigorate a restoration of pro-choice legislation at the federal level, re-balance the Supreme Court, and resolve that a President is not, and has never been, above the law. She is aptly suited to hold Trump accountable.

Kamala Harris may actually inspire a blue wave this November. There are a new generation of Democratic candidates rising up in local, county, state and federal campaigns to challenge Republican officials, in many cases for the first time, or in elections that were traditionally considered safe districts for Republicans. Young Americans are registering to vote, and seeking opportunities to volunteer. There is a sense of hope that is growing in our young people, in our communities, and in our circles. Skeptics are raising their voices too, but they cannot stop the joy, or the spontaneous organizing and action that we have seen this week. There is a movement happening in front of us, and is a relief to see its momentum and positive direction.

President Biden’s decision to step aside was difficult, and it was clear that he spoke with emotion on Wednesday when he announced his decision to complete his four years, but hand the torch to Kamala for the next four years and another four, in order that democracy would continue to thrive. He said,

“I draw strength and I find joy in working for the American people, but this sacred task of perfecting our union is not about me. It’s about you, your families, your futures. It’s about we the people, and we can never forget that. And I never have.“

On Friday morning, Barack and Michele Obama announced their endorsement of Kamala Harris, and this culminated a long series of A-listers who since Sunday have weighed in to give their support to Harris. Beyoncé has provided rights to her song “Freedom” for the campaign. Swifties are making friendship bracelets adorned with messages to get out the vote. Support groups are breaking Zoom and YouTube with attendance records, and the money is rolling in. This is becoming an election like no other before it.

It may be best to end this piece with another quote from Biden’s speech:

“America is going to have to choose between moving forward or backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division. We have to decide, do we still believe in honesty, decency, respect, freedom, justice and democracy? In this moment, we can see those we disagree with not as enemies, but as fellow Americans. Can we do that? Does character in public life still matter?“

“I believe you know the answer to these questions because I know you, the American people, and I know this, we are a great nation because we are a good people.“

I encourage you to think about his words, and be settled that, yes, we are a great nation because we are a good people.

Have hope, share hope, and know that we must work together all the way through to November.

End note: Harris is currently collecting delegate pledges to seal her nomination before the upcoming Democratic National Convention. A virtual roll call will take place in early August to vote from eligible nominees. The running mate of the successful candidate will also be announced and confirmed in the roll vote. On Monday, July 29 the Utah Democratic Party will host a virtual town hall from 6-7PM to provide updates and answer questions. You can register to attend at https://mobilize.us/s/mK85Hf.

I look forward to hearing from you.

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A Story of Utah Healthcare

On Sunday it will have been nine weeks after my son left home in psychosis, convinced that a casual remark I made about calling Vocational Rehab for help with a job meant I was (in his mind) a sociopathic narcissist who he wasn’t safe to be around. He left a home to live in his car, with no savings or income. It’s not the first time that he has done something like this, but each time I worry that it might be the last time I see him.

In February there was a national shortage of his antipsychotic medication, a long acting injectable that he took every four weeks to relieve symptoms of psychosis.  Although it didn’t “cure” him, he was stable and had been at home since his last big break in 2019. Since then we had negotiated through parole visits and mental health court. He struggled to work steadily but couldn’t keep a job. He has worked at more than 40 places since he was diagnosed, but hasn’t averaged more than 3 weeks in any single job. In almost all of these jobs he has chosen not to reveal that he has a mental illness. He is fired, or quits, or stops showing up.  There are unreported accidents from work. There are timecards left unsigned and unaccounted. There are customer complaints, or employee complaints, or HR reports. Oftentimes he would come home to say that a co-worker was one of the new voices in his head tormenting him, and he didn’t want to work around them any more.  

To make up for the temporary shortage, his prescriber decided that another LAI could be prescribed. I had immediate concerns because we had tried switching over to this other medication before, and the results were that he lost efficacy in his treatment.  The three of us got on a Zoom call to discuss treatment options, and the doctor was steadfast that the treatment would work with a new method of onboarding doses before transitioning to a more standard regimen.  I was skeptical, but my son trusted the doctor and we agreed that this new plan would be followed. Less than a month after beginning the transition I contacted my son’s doctor and counsellor to say that there were some minor but noticeable changes.  It didn’t appear that the new medication had the same therapeutic effect as the one it was replacing.  This was the beginning of me regularly emailing the hospital to describe my concern as his psychosis became apparent. My son was beginning to drift into paranoia, and it was going to get harder to bring him back each day we delayed. The prescriber suggested that my son supplement his shot with an oral-form antipsychotic. This was not suitable at all – the entire reason we were using a long acting injectable was because my son didn’t take oral meds.  They asked him to come in to pick up the oral medication, and he agreed but didn’t show up. He re-scheduled, then called and cancelled the appointment.  He didn’t want to take the oral meds. He didn’t want the injection either.  He just wanted to be safe because he didn’t trust the hospital anymore, and he didn’t trust me.  

In the week before he left he would come upstairs and talk to the pets. “I’m not afraid of you”, he would say. He no longer looked at any of us, instead he would look up, or look past us, or ignore us altogether while drowning us out with the music playing in his ear buds. At night, when we were in bed, he would go to the same computer that I’m typing this on to watch Youtube videos on narcissism, trauma bonding, sociopathy, tarot and astrology.  I was finding drawings and symbols that were his attempt to cast protective spells and use magic. When he found work he would often complain that a co-worker was a narcissist.  Now that he wasn’t able to work and became more isolated, he was beginning to turn this view on me. When he left he broke his bedroom door. He was angry, or afraid, or both. I didn’t stand in his way, and just let him take what he wanted before he left home. 

My son decided in his psychosis that his doctors and counsellor who had been with him for the past 5 years weren’t safe. He decided that his family wasn’t safe. He decided that the course of treatment he had been following wasn’t safe. He left home without money in his account, without a job, with no place to go.  I was keeping tabs through his hospital until he stopped talking to them. I have called the local police department to explain that he’s out there, and if they meet him they should have a note on file that he has paranoid schizophrenia but has typically been cooperative with police. I wait to hear something, but there is nothing.  I lie awake at night wondering if I would hear him come in during the night when he is routinely up and about.  I wonder if he wants to come home but thinks he can’t.  In one of our last exchanges I told him I didn’t feel safe around him because he was using threatening language about me. I didn’t want him to come home, not until he was willing to get help. 

A few weeks ago there was an officer-involved shooting near my home that involved reports of an adult male looking into cars at a nearby park that I knew my son frequented.  When officers responded in early morning hours, the person was aggressive and was shot and killed. The area was shut down while the investigation of the scene followed. When I heard, I panicked.  Could that have been my son?  I got in the car and drove to see, not sure what I would find.  When I arrived on the east side of the park, I could see his car and my heart sank. All I could think was “Please, no“.  I approached the car slowly. The windows were down. As I came past the vehicle I could see him, sitting in the back seat.  He saw me too, and he wasn’t happy to see me. But he was there, he was alive.  

I don’t know when I’m going to see him again.  I don’t know under what circumstances that I hear from him, or from the hospital, or a police officer, or from the metro county jail.  I have lost my son to psychosis, again.  As an adult, only he can consent to receiving treatment. The exceptions being that he is a danger to himself, or to others.  As his father I cannot request help, and I can’t talk to him in a way that would make him want to seek help.  He has been at UNI twice. The first time I implored him to get help because I was losing my son, the second time he was committed because I found him after a period of homelessness, bloodied and seeing “how far he could go” to cut himself. He doesn’t want to go back, and he thinks he knows better.  

It’s hard to say all of this.  I’m truly at a loss, and I don’t know what to do. We don’t have any laws to protect us from ourselves, and we don’t have any laws to step in when someone is experiencing psychosis.  It doesn’t matter if it leads to financial ruin, or destroying your health, or if it takes away the stability that you worked for years to have.  None of this matters.  

How do I get my son back?  How much will he suffer before something can be done? My heart is breaking for him, for my family, but also for every family who shares a similar story of loss. 

Update: Some readers responded and pointed me to Unsheltered Utah, a 501(c)3 nonprofit with outreach in the south valley. I have contacted them and they have engaged my son. Thank you.

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Better Boundaries so we can Disagree Better

One of the biggest things to come out this week was the Utah Supreme Court decision that allows Better Boundaries to proceed in its case against the Utah Legislature for its issuance of gerrymandered lines before the 2020 election. It’s clear that the courts side with the people to say that we are not beholden to the special interests of legislators who seek to tie up districting in such a way that it favors their party, or their own election. Although the case has yet to have a final decision, it now has support to proceed with the validation of the Utah Supreme Court. In Utah, we have experienced a demonstration of the powers of balance between branches.

Responses from Republicans in the Utah Legislature fall flat. House Speaker Mike Schultz and Rep. Jordan Teuscher decry the Supreme Court’s decision, stating that it would be in our better interests to be served by the better judgements of elected officials, that the interests of the elected should trump the egalitarian principles our nation was founded on. Their response has been rightly criticized on social media as legally false, pretentious, and willfully ignorant.

At the same time this week, Governor Cox stated that “Disagree Better” is working at the National Governors Association. “We’ve gotten really, really good at tearing things down,” Cox told attendees gathered at The Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City. “We need more builders. And that’s exactly what we’re trying to do.” (Deseret.com) If he’s serious, one of the most significant acts that a governor can do is to support fair districts to achieve more ideal representation of voter populations.

If we are to disagree better, we need a voice. If we are to disagree better, we need to be able to elect legislators who will represent the issues and address the causes that are important to us.

I look forward to hearing from you.

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State Sovereignty and What Comes Of It

If you fly a US flag for the Fourth of July, think about what that means. You are celebrating the hard-fought freedoms of our country, and you are celebrating as a member citizen of the United States.  Think about that for a moment, then read on. If a state chooses to ignore federal laws, or specifically to write law contrary to federal law, what precedent does that set? 

The Supremacy Clause establishes that federal law generally takes precedence over state laws, and even state constitutions. With the recently passed Utah SB0057 “Utah Constitutional Sovereignty Act” our state plans to fight out in courts a concept of state’s rights that raises questions about the applicability of law and the right to govern citizens.  A question that will certainly come up is the question of Sovereign Citizens, who will seek precedence that favors their stand as willfully excerpted from the laws of government.  Their ideal is to enjoy the privileges of living in our democratic republic with its infrastructure and frameworks, but disregard their duties as citizens and abstain from legal recourse that are a consequence of their actions. If conservatives are truly a party of limited government, should their argument be that we are allowed to rule ourselves in true libertarian fashion?  Or is their argument more simply “rules for thee and not for me”?

There are frequent tests of states rights. If we take the case of medical marijuana legislated at the state level for medicinal use, or for recreational use, this was favorably received by constituents as a move away from heavy-handed government overreach, specifically for the Controlled Substances Act, and DEA Drug Schedule that classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 substance. 

  • There is substantial research which shows that marijuana is not addictive, and has beneficial properties. 
  • Drug companies have exemptions to sell marijuana derivatives as anti-seizure medication (ex: Epidiolex by Jazz Pharmaceuticals), and as a pain-reliever and anti-nausea medication for cancer patients.
  • Allowing access to marijuana at the state level is pushing federal law to move in a just direction. 

In the case of Title IX protections, conservative legislators are doing the opposite by attempting to take away citizen protections at the federal level. Title IX prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance. Utah wants to claim sovereignty for the purpose of discriminating against trans students, and they are not only willing to lose federal funding for schools, but additionally grant the State Attorney General to pursue “any appropriate legal action to challenge the federal directive on the basis of state sovereignty.” None of this benefits Utahns.

  • Students and their families will unjustly face discriminatory practices.
  • The state will suffer from the loss of funding for public education, federal grants and programs.
  • Utahns will take up the burden of cost to fund expensive legal battles in the federal courts on whether or not states are allowed to willfully discriminate against a class of citizens. 

There are fights that are worthy, as in the first case. What Utah legislators are doing in the second case is a slap in the face of its people. They are claiming that federal civil rights protections can be ignored, and states can invoke discriminatory laws to burden its constituents.  They are effectively making the same argument that a Sovereign Citizen would make, but at the state level.  “Rules for thee and not for me”. 

Can a state simply write a law to say that its relationship to the federal government only applies as convenient to its legislature, that its willful participation in federal governance can be excerpted on a whim? If this is allowed, then the question becomes whether a county, municipality, city, or citizen claim the same right of sovereignty? Where is the rule of law when sovereignty can be claimed without repercussion? 

In principle, laws are designed to protect, not punish its citizens. Many of the laws we have are hard fought – the freedoms of all our people as citizens, the right to vote, the right to not be discriminated against on the basis of our age, ancestry, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, HIV/AIDS status, military status, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status. 

Take time to celebrate on this day, but recognize that our federal laws, and our state’s membership in a union of states has a long history that we should be careful to defend.

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Lions and Tigers and Bears, and Book Bans

The summer is heating up, and Utah gets ready to implement a new statewide book-banning system. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that effective July 1 — ironically three days before the nation celebrates its freedom — a new law originally sponsored by Rep. Ken Ivory and Sen. Todd Weiler takes effect where books will begin to be removed based on “objective sensitive material” as defined by Utah code. There were literal discussions by the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) whether to conduct book burnings.

The bill is HB29: Sensitive Material Review Amendments, and it specifically calls out Utah Criminal Code Title 76, Chapter 10 Part 12 to define what objective sensitive material may be. The code uses terms like “contemporary community standards,” “prevailing standards in the adult community,” and “serious value”. The code is hyper-focused on expressions of sexuality and nudity.

It doesn’t mention physical violence, gore, or abuse. It doesn’t mention persecution, genocide, mass murders. It doesn’t mention drug abuse or recreational drug use. Apparently those depictions don’t constitute objective sensitive material according to the prevailing standards in (our) adult community. Here in Utah, sex is bad, bad stuff.

The law does not take into account that sexuality is identity. It doesn’t take into account, or possibly disregards that for minors a book may be the closest experience to reading about and understanding who they are. It does not factor that its “contemporary community standards” upheld are the religious dogmas of a church, and not broadly representative of religious views, culture and identity in our community. It’s unusual that the titles are works by renowned authors like Toni Morrison, Judy Blume and Margaret Atwood. These authors are now mobilizing as Authors against Book Bans – follow them on Instagram.

Article reference: New Coalition Against Book Bans Launches Nationwide With Support From Authors Like Judy Blume and Julia Quinn (People Magazine)

Our public school systems already have a system in place to monitor what’s appropriate to place on a library shelf. We have librarians who are trained, professional staff with degrees, accreditations, professional associations and administrative support to determine what students are reading, and what’s appropriate (or not) to place on a library shelf.

Stay tuned for the Utah State Board of Education to post its list of banned books on their site after the law goes into effect. July 15 Update: Links to each LEA are now published by the USBE.

In the meantime, if you want to do something for your community consider fighting censorship and starting a Little Library of Banned Books. If there is interest, I’d be happy to sponsor a workshop to build little libraries for our House District.

Are you interested? Let me know. I look forward to hearing from you.

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This Week’s GOP Governor Candidates Debate

Did you watch the Gubernatorial Republican primary debate that took place on Tuesday, June 11?

Gubernatorial Debate sponsored by the Utah Debate Commission

If there is anything to take away from the Utah Republican gubernatorial debates, it’s that candidates are pandering to the conservative right of their base. There was nothing substantial from either gubernatorial candidate in the event hosted by the Utah Debate Commission. 

What we heard from Republican candidates was that federal legislation is bad because states want to do what they can’t right now, which is to strip protections from our lands and resources, and to deregulate air quality and environmental protections. Republicans think that the taxes to pay teachers is bad, but taxes to build a billionaire’s stadium is good.  Republicans don’t want to assist local economic development but will fall over themselves to grant billions in tax cuts to companies who reap benefits and pull out of the state long before any profit can be realized for the state. When it comes to citizen initiatives the will of the people can be ignored because the legislature can do what it wants. Personal rights don’t extend to women, or POC, or LGBTQ+. They want to tell us what to think, what to read, and what to believe. 

Does this sound like the government that you want to be represented by? Are you concerned that your federal tax dollars aren’t returned through federal services like access to healthcare, public school funding, and grants?  

The GOP would like you to think that they are the party of small government, but the reality is that they are a party of control and a party of profiteering. If one thing is clear, we need now more than ever to seek better representation — and the most important thing you can do this year is to show up in November to cast your vote for Brian King and Rebekah Cummings. 

Please visit https://www.kingforutah.com/ to learn more about the King and Cummings campaign for Utah Governor and Lt Governor, and make a donation towards their campaign. 

Donate: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ws-king

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A Celebration and Defense of Community

June is Pride Month, and on Saturday, June 1st I will be walking at the SoJo Summerfest Parade in South Jordan. On Sunday, June 2nd I will be walking with the Salt Lake County Democrats at the Utah Pride Parade in Salt Lake City. From a rainbow of colors, I will (quite obviously) be wearing green. On the first day we celebrate the city and our community, and on the second we celebrate and defend the people who are part of our community. There is a subtle and important difference between these two days. On the first day we show pride for our home, and on the second, we show pride for our community.

The Pride March started one year after the 1969 Stonewall Riots, and was created as a remembrance and solemn defense of identity. In the fifty years since then, the march has evolved to advocate for, educate about and celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community. According to the Pew Research Center, some 7% of Americans are lesbian, gay or bisexual, and the number is higher for our youth because culture is changing, and because younger generations are more comfortable talking about sex and gender. Nearly 10% of youth ages 18-24 identified as LGBTQIA+. This is why advocacy is so important – in recent years the US Dept of Justice reports that in Utah the number of hate crimes against people due to sexual orientation has increased six-fold between 2020 and 2022. Recent legislation has unjustly inflamed and polarized gender identity and sexual orientation issues. In Utah our LGBTQIA+ youth face discrimination, health access, mental health issues, homelessness, and suicide as significant risks.

I believe that we build UNITY in COMMUNITY. We do this by being visible, supporting our neighbors, by creating safe spaces, by respecting and celebrating our differences, and by standing together.

Legislatively, I will work to protect our individual rights. You can see my stances on DEI, LGBTQIA+ rights, healthcare, and education at https://utah44.com/issues/.

Resources

You’re invited to come and celebrate on both days. Register at https://utah44.com/get-involved/ if you want to be involved with the campaign.

https://utah44.com/find-unity-in-your-community/

I look forward to hearing from you.

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Supporting Public Schools

Our district is a primarily residential district that encompasses the north and west of South Jordan city, and the southwestern edge of West Jordan city. We are home to eight public schools that all fall within the Jordan School District. Our schools service elementary and middle school students. Our oldest school is 45 years old.

Additionally, there is one public charter school for grades 6-12 in our boundaries:

The reason that I’m stating all of this is because I want to raise the issue and address the topic of school vouchers that undermine strong public education and student opportunity. They take scarce funding from these public schools, and move that money to private schools that are not accountable to taxpayers, for test scores, or teacher certifications. The NEA provides a dismal review of the voucher program in Arizona – the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) due to its cost and utter lack of accountability. The Utah Fits All Scholarship program is modeled after the Arizona voucher program, and promises the same fate in our state. Critics of the voucher program object that the voucher program will financially hobble Utah’s public schools, which are already among the least funded in the country.

Families overwhelmingly support public schools. Our public schools are a gold standard for education. They offer programs in arts, STEM, athletics, and robust extra-curricular clubs and activities. Public schools are the only spaces where there are protections for students with disabilities, with a notable exception of specialized schools. Teachers are certified and maintain ongoing education. Our public schools have robust systems of support that include the PTA, Community Councils and volunteers. Our funds should be used to improve public school programs, including school lunch, extended day programs, after school programs, invest in teacher salaries, and to add support positions (paras, nurses, counselors) to administrative staff.

Reference Articles:

Trust in our system of public education. Your representative needs to represent you. You are the voter. You are the constituent. If your voice isn’t represented in the district, then speak up, get involved, and act with your vote in November. I ask that you stand for our system of public education, and stand with me for better representation.

See https://utah44.com/hd44-demographics/

I look forward to hearing from you.