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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.

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Defending our Public Employees

Jordan Teuscher is no friend to working families. During the 2024 general legislative session, Jordan introduced HB285 “Labor Union Amendments”, which failed primarily due to very present, overwhelming opposition by both public and private sector employees. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the highest unionization rates are among workers in education, training, and libraries (32.7%) and law enforcement (31.9%) — all public sector occupations. This is who Jordan was attacking with his bill, and we’re predicting that if he retains his seat, he’s going to come back in 2025 to continue his assault on public employees and working families.

Who are the people that would be negatively impacted? In this bill, Public employees represent municipality, county, state and school district employees, or any administrative subunit of the state. He’s targeting teachers, school administrators, state employees, city employees, police and firefighters. He’s going after the people who operate our cities and make things run. He’s going after the teachers and administrators who provide sound public education to our children. He’s going after emergency responders and the people who answer the calls for help.

Is Jordan representing Utahns with these bills? The answer is no. His bill language comes from Michigan’s Mackinac Center for Public Policy and its deceptively named “Workers for Opportunity” that are engaging with conservative legislators to introduce legislation to weaken labor laws and tear down worker rights. He’s running bills written from outside of Utah. Unions are one of the most important tools to address the disparity of wealth distribution, and a legitimate tool to manage the welfare and way of life for Utahns. Union members will tell you that human dignity and worth, fair pay, retirement, benefits, safety, training, employer accountability, and opportunity are what are at stake. And Jordan is no friend to unions, or to working families.

“What is government for, if not to better the lives of its citizens?”

Tom Davidson, LiUNA Local 295

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 with working families, and stand with me for better representation.

I look forward to hearing from you.

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Do Ethics Really Matter in Utah?

I’m speechless.

First Post: https://utah44.com/slushy-campaign-finances/
Update: https://utah44.com/teuscher-pierucci-and-the-conservative-millennial-pac/

The response (below) from disclosure@utah.gov confirms that in July 2023 a total of $1,500 was transferred to Candice Pierucci two months in advance by Jordan Teuscher (apparently acting as an officer of the Conservative Millennials PAC) that went unreported for two months before it was disclosed on their campaign reports. Even though https://disclosures.utah.gov/File/279 states that contributions must be reported within 31 days of receipt.

Summarizing:

  • The Conservative Millennials PAC forwarded money through Jordan Teuscher to Candice Pierucci in July 2023 that was unreported for two months, in violation of disclosure rules.
  • Jordan Teuscher either transferred money into his personal account (this would be a separate violation it it occurred), or has at least three accounts (his personal account, the Teuscher campaign account, and the Conservative Millennials PAC account) tied to his personal Venmo. The Office of the Utah Lieutenant Governor makes it clear that Venmo can be tied to multiple personal and campaign accounts used to receive, transfer and spend money, even though it is being used for all intents and purposes as a co-mingled financial account.
  • Jordan does not disclose his role as an intermediary who received funds from the Conservative Millennials PAC (of which he is a primary officer) in transferring the funds to Candice Pierucci using his personal Venmo, which should be a violation of disclosure rules.
  • Candice Pierucci fails to report the July campaign donation she received from Teuscher for two months, which is a violation of disclosure rules.

And the Lieutenant Governor’s office plans to do nothing about it.

Their email closes by saying: “If you don’t like or agree with the laws, please work with your legislators to improve them. Should you win the election you would have the opportunity to propose new legislation as well.”

Does Utah really care about ethics? Do we care about transparency and disclosure? Does it matter that the Republican Lieutenant Governor’s office weighs in favor of two Republican legislators and a Republican PAC who are clearly engaged in improper handling of campaign finances that benefitted them?

2024-05-17-disclosures-responseDownload
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Teuscher, Pierucci and the Conservative Millennial PAC

This is a continuation of my first post at https://utah44.com/slushy-campaign-finances/

Today I received the following:

Thank you for following up on our additional inquiry. Our initial determination stands as you provided no evidence of wrongdoing or specific code violations other than to disagree that using Venmo is mingling personal and campaign funds. That is to say, we do not view the way Representative Tesucher has represented his use of Venmo as a violation of Utah campaign finance law.

The code requires separate bank accounts, which the representative has. We have confirmed this with him on two occasions. Based upon the definition of “transactional intermediary” in 20A-11-101.5, and the representation that campaign funds are being swept into a campaign account where they are used for campaign expenditures. These transactions are being reported properly. Therefore, we find no violation of Utah law and consider this issue resolved.

Office of the Utah Lieutenant Governor

So let’s get into specifics, because I’m not sure that everything I recorded at in my previous post was reviewed or investigated.

There is evidence of an undisclosed transaction involving Jordan Teuscher, Candice Pierucci, and the Conservative Millennial PAC that was found in Teuscher’s Venmo history. Teuscher transferred money to Pierucci on July 7, 2023 with a note “Conservative Millennial PAC Donation” that is not reported.

Here’s the proof:

teuscher-pierucci-pac-transactionDownload
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How Can We Support Public Education?

Public education is one of the most valuable assets of our community, and our teachers deserve recognition and support for their work. Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programs at school are integral to teaching empathy and connection. Curriculums should provide age-appropriate instruction that is not filtered by religion or revisionist thinking. Our children need to develop broader understandings of the world, and develop critical thinking and social skills to be successful.

I stand with teachers for pay raises and for collective bargaining. It’s frustrating to see that passing teacher pay raises is only negotiated in order to pass negative legislation (i.e. school vouchers), or for publicity moves by the super-majority in Utah’s legislature (i.e. the 2024 election year proposal to do away with the income tax that is a primary funding source for education, but “hey, let’s throw a bone and give teachers raises”). We need a priority bill for teacher funding. We need to fight against the initiative to cancel the so-called “CRT praxis” of the conservative right.

I am against private school vouchers that take money from the public school system. Public money should stay in public schools, and vouchers are literally defunding our system of public education.

Regarding children with disabilities in public schools – I have personal connection to this issue. I have a daughter with cerebral palsy and IDD who went through the Jordan District public education system. I was part of the “We All Belong” campaign in 2021 when Jordan School District attempted to consolidate SPED classes and bus students away from their home schools (we won due to public appeal). Removing students with disabilities from our public schools destroys bonds for these students, both abled and disabled. These relationships are critical for students, who form lifelong bonds and shape perspectives on individuality, purpose, and understanding. Representative Teuscher and Representative Pierucci have stated at Town Halls that “difficult students” need to be removed from public schools. This goes directly against federal IDEA and FAPE; it impacts federal funding and the programs that public schools are eligible for. Their opinions are not qualified or supported by the majority of educators and school administrators.

This is what Jordan Teuscher said when talking about the 2023 HB215 Utah Fits All Scholarship voucher program:

“as these students come out of public schools, a lot of time, and I’ve heard this from teachers, a lot of times they’ll have to spend, you know, 80% of their time on 20% of the students because it’s just not the right fit. You know, maybe they have a disability or, you know, a learning challenge or something, they don’t learn the same way. And so if we can get those students into schools that focus on that need, and then the teachers can spend all their time dealing with the other 80% of the teachers [sic] it’s a total win-win for everyone. And that’s what I intend, that’s what I hope to see as it moves forward.“

Jordan Teuscher

I am currently endorsed by Utah Parents for Teachers, and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). I am seeking critical endorsement from UEA as well. If you are interested in my survey responses from UEA and UPfT see the following links:

I look forward to hearing from you.

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Slushy Campaign Finances

Reference: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title20A/Chapter11/20A-11-S201.html

The Office of the Utah Lieutenant Governor allows a candidate to connect a campaign account to Venmo, a mobile payment service and use that as an intermediary system to send and receive payments. I am asking the Office of the Utah Lieutenant Governor to provide an explicit statement that confirms funds can be co-mingled in mobile payment service accounts that have been set up with access to both personal and campaign accounts, and/or publish this to the disclosures site FAQ at https://disclosures.utah.gov/Help/Faqs.

The Problem

The Venmo app has a feature that allows an account to connect more than one backend bank to a single account. When money is received, it goes into the Venmo balance. When money is sent, you can choose whether to use Venmo balance funds, or money from one of the registered bank accounts. You can also transfer money in your Venmo balance to one of the registered bank accounts. It is for all intents and purposes a financial account that co-mingles funds.

What’s bothering me about this is that it appears the Office of the Utah Lieutenant Governor will allow funds to be co-mingled in a mobile payment service account. The question becomes whether the provider of a mobile payment service account (i.e. Venmo) is considered a “financial institution”.  I would argue that they are. Venmo offers direct deposit, debit and credit cards.   Setting up multiple transfer accounts with Venmo is similar to how a standard bank account works.  A bank allows to receive and make payments, as well as transfer to third parties.  Venmo is for all intents and purposes a financial institution.

Further, what is the audit capacity for forensic research of these types of payments? I’m concerned that this is breaching the “trust but verify” capability of their office. 

Specifically: 

  • How do they identify that the amount received in a Venmo transaction is the same amount that is deposited into a campaign account? 
  • How do they identify that the timeliness of the transaction is reported to avoid disclosure reporting requirements (ex: is the contribution received when the money is transferred in Venmo, or when the balance is transferred to an account? Is the contribution ever reported if it never touches the actual campaign account? )
  • How is money tracked if it is in a Venmo balance, never transferred to the campaign account, then used to pay for something else? 
  • How do they track payments or money transfers between two candidates that both use a mobile payment service like Venmo? 
  • What is an intermediary, if that person is allowed to receive funds and forward them to another party, and that transaction is not reported?
  • Are they able to request account audits from candidates for mobile payment services?  
  • Are there specific mobile payment services that are allowed, or disallowed?  Not all mobile payment services allow for a single account to create backend connections to multiple bank accounts.

My concern is that what’s in place is an honor system that can easily be disregarded, and the lack of public transparency is of significant concern.  I contend that it is also a violation of Utah Code 20A-11-S201.

Spot the Difference

Situation One: A candidate opens a bank account, and begins to conduct transactions through it. The transactions include personal deposits and expenditures, as well as processing of campaign-related donations, expenses and transfers of money to other candidates. The candidate connects a separate personal bank account and a dedicated campaign account to this bank account so that they can transfer funds to and from the general account to the personal and campaign accounts. This is a campaign violation for co-mingled accounts.

Situation Two: A candidate opens a mobile payment account, and begins to conduct transactions through it. The transactions include personal deposits and expenditures, as well as processing of campaign-related donations, expenses and transfers of money to other candidates. The candidate connects a separate personal bank account and a dedicated campaign account to this mobile payment account so that they can transfer funds to and from the mobile payment account to the personal and campaign accounts. This is (apparently) NOT a campaign violation for co-mingled accounts.

My concern is that what’s in place is lazy. It is dependent on an honor system that can easily be disregarded, and the lack of public transparency is of significant concern.  If a candidate wants to play fast and loose with both campaign contributions and campaign payments, there is no verifiable means of holding that candidate accountable. 

A Gold Standard

  • A campaign account is set up using personal ID, a signed candidacy declaration from the clerk’s office, and a Section 527 – Political organization Federal EIN for the campaign.
  • Cash and checks are deposited and processed through the account.
  • Online payment services have a singular relationship to the campaign account, and can electronically deposit funds to the account (ex: ActBlue online donation form for political candidates)
  • Payments from the account should be in the form of debit card, online debit using the bank routing and account number, check or certified check drawn from the account.
  • A cash withdrawal from a campaign account is typically discouraged, but can be done with a receipt to verify the expense.

The Case Applied

From disclosure@utah.gov, sent May 9, 2024

“Potential co-mingling of funds:
A Venmo account has the capacity to house multiple bank accounts. With this knowledge, and information provided by Rep. Teuscher regarding his specific Venmo account, we find that funds have not been co-mingled. As Rep. Teuscher has separate bank accounts within his one Venmo account, there has been no violation of 20A-11-201.“

Jordan Teuscher (Utah Representative for House District 44) uses a personal Venmo account to receive campaign contributions, and to make campaign expenditures.  The Venmo account activity is not limited to campaign related activity.  The majority of transactions on his Venmo account @jordanteuscher are clearly personal in nature, which indicates this account is not (or should not be) tied to his separate campaign bank account. Teuscher appears to be co-mingling funds through his Venmo account in violation of Utah law. 

Teuscher either knew or should have known that it is impermissible for a statewide candidate to co-mingle funds. Teuscher – who serves as the chairman of the House Committee on Ethics – should be versed in these regulations. It is troubling that Teuscher is looking to further weaken Utah campaign finance reporting laws with the introduction of HB160 in 2024.

Multiple campaign violations appear to occur in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Here is the proof:

teuscher-venmo-transactionsDownload
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Why Disability Legislation Matters

I am the parent of two adult children with disabilities who I am a caregiver for. I have a son diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, and a daughter who was born with cerebral palsy, IDD, a left hemiparesis and vision field cut. I have a disability (T2D, and nocturnal hypoxemia following COVID). When I was 12 my mother was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Multiple Sclerosis, and my older sister had schizophrenia. My entire life has been a lesson in caring for, or managing my own, disabilities.

I am a member of the Legislative Coalition for People with Disabilities, participate in the Utah Developmental Disabilities Council ALPS program, and have applied to be a council member of UDDC. My daughter is a Special Olympics US Youth Ambassador and athlete. She and I host a Podcast on disability and inclusion topics. See https://katnnat.com/wp/category/podcasts/.

Adapted from the Disability Victory Fund, when I say all legislation is disability legislation, this is what that means:

  • HOUSING: we need affordable homes. We need safe and efficient homes. We need accessible homes.
  • INFRASTRUCTURE: walk and roll cities: accessible public transit, accessible streets and sidewalks, accessible public buildings, accessible bathrooms. I want to address transportation and accessibility issues by supporting walk & roll cities.
  • ENVIRONMENT: clean air, clean water, and a clean environment
  • JOBS: improved job access, and a true minimum wage – we need better customized and competitive employment options for people with disabilities. We need to address pay inequities that exist not only for people with disabilities; you’ve heard this before but the same job should equal the same pay.
  • MEDICINE: fulfill state Medicaid expand for medical and mental health supports, and caregiver supports. If elected, I will work to fully fund Medicaid expansion in the state. I want to fund Services for People with Disabilities (DSPD) to resolve the multi-year backlog.
  • POLICE: we need continued, improved training on crisis intervention, and standard de-escalation procedures when responding to altercations. Use of community services as first responders, and citizen review boards are sensible considerations to ensure community support and safety.

We have the unfortunate circumstance that our Utah State Legislature has pushed back on Medicaid expansion in our state, which means that Federal funds we have already paid taxes toward are left unused. Claims of fiscal responsibility in choosing not to expand the program in Utah are absurd. You can see my proposed 2025 legislation at https://utah44.com/proposed-2025-legislation/ that includes specific topics on disability.

You can see my stance on issues at https://utah44.com/issues-healthcare/ and https://utah44.com/issues-environment/ and https://utah44.com/issues-police/ (notice the separate links, because this is where “all legislation is disability legislation” comes from).

I look forward to hearing from you.

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Representing Working Families

During the 2024 General Session we saw a major anti-union bill introduced in HB285 by Jordan Teuscher. The bill failed primarily due to strong and vocal opposition by public and private employees, including emergency services workers, school teachers, public employees, and union members from across the state. This wasn’t the first anti-union bill from Jordan, and it won’t be the last. Since elected he has introduced nationally-sponsored bills designed to degrade unions in Utah. Groups like Workers for Opportunity and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy are engaging with conservative legislators to introduce legislation veiled as “worker freedom”, but in reality represent a furthering of “right-to-work” policies that weaken labor laws and tear down worker rights. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the highest unionization rates were among workers in education, training, and libraries (32.7%) and law enforcement (31.9%) — all public sector occupations; and that is what Jordan has been targeting. Our public workers, and our working families deserve to be represented. Jordan does NOT represent our community. I’m working to unseat Jordan so that I can become the representative for House District 44. I pledge to protect and advocate for workers’ rights if elected. You can see more of my stance on workers’ rights at https://utah44.com/issues-workers-rights/.

At the national level, watch closely for progress on the Protecting the Rights to Organize (PRO) Act which will expand labor protections for employees’ rights to organize and for collective bargaining in the workplace.

Don’t cross the line. Vote with working families who choose a representative that will fight for your rights and defend your freedom, your job, and you.

You Can Get Involved

An important part of elections is b.

Being informed and voting is the start of engagement in political processes, but if you truly want to have your voice heard, you need to engage in the forums that help build platforms and grow legislation.

Become active in the campaigns that are important to you. Support a candidate, volunteer to work the polls or knock on doors. You can become a precinct chair, or consider taking on a House District role. You can join a legislative committee. By engaging you use your actions and your voice to help grow the conversations that you care about. Help shape legislation, and support or defend the issues you care about.

Who knows? You can even run for office.

I look forward to hearing from you.

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