Platforms

Housing

Affordable housing is not only a requirement for survival, but a right of all humanity. The housing market in Utah has become supply constrained and unaffordable. Not just for the renters who support our most essential industries, but also, those prospective homebuyers who are the skilled workers that support our top industries being built up in locations like the "Silicon Slopes" and throughout the state.

Resolving this problem will require immediate action at all levels of government. As a member of the State Legislature my priorities on this issue would be to create rent control to prevent excessive rent hikes, limit corporate ownership of properties for use as short-term rentals, as well as providing funds to assist homebuyers in being able to afford their purchase.

Fair Governance

Over the past decade, Utah citizens have passed several citizen initiatives on important issues such as anti-gerrymandering, Medicaid expansion, medical Cannabis, and education funding. In response, the current legislature has ignored those initiatives, made it harder for citizens to put initiatives on the ballot, and attacked the Judiciary for daring to enforce the stated will of the people.

Additionally, the members of the legislature (particularly the leadership elected by the current supermajority) have used their positions to enrich themselves and help their friends and family. In the past year, Senate President Adams has used his position to change the law to the benefit of his family members, directly benefited from selling land to the government he oversees, and received the largest campaign donations of his career from parties with business before committees on which he sits.

This type of corruption has become ingrained in the current Republican Party at all levels, from County Commissions and State Legislators to the President.

As a candidate, I vow not only to uphold high standards of transparency and communication with the constituency. I have taken no campaign donations of any kind: corporate, PAC, or personal.

Environment & Climate

The Great Salt Lake and the climate of our state, which depends on it, are on the verge of collapse. The lake's record-low levels are exposing heavy metals once covered by the water, which can now be lifted by the wind and turn into toxic dust storms. This is a genuine emergency that the legislature has acknowledged will take billions of dollars to mitigate. Despite that acknowledgment, the legislature continues to try "market-focused" and "business forward" solutions. Unfortunately, no matter what incentives the government tries to provide for businesses to help with the lake, their primary incentive is still their bottom line, leaving them to implement the cheapest options they can get away with.

Meanwhile, all 10 of the hottest years on record in our state occurred in the last 15 years, and only one of the next 5 is not in the past 25 years. This extreme change in our climate is increasing the impact of wildfires, lowering yield of crops, and causing increased death of our most vulnerable residents.

As a legislator, I would introduce and sponsor legislation to actually take action on both of these emergencies. Direct action by the government as well as changing corporate incentives for cleanup efforts to penalties for actions that exacerbate the issues.

Protecting ALL Families

Medical access and affordability are becoming a major issue for families all across the state. Despite a 2018 ballot measure where the people of Utah voted to expand Medicaid access the legislature immediately rewrote that law WE passed to limit the expansion. In addition, in the 8 years since that rejection of the voters will, the legislature has passed laws limiting access to healthcare for pregnant women as well as the trans community. These adults should be able to with their doctors make their own medical decisions without the government getting in the way.

As a legislator I would support or introduce legislation to implement the people's will by expanding Medicaid access, as well as remove the limits that have been artificially placed by the government reaching into the personal lives of the citizenry.

Rejuvenating our Education System

For the past 3 years Utah has been ranked 50th in the nation in per pupil education spending. Despite our last place position in that ranking the legislature continues to make bills and put on the ballot constitutional amendments allowing for the funds that are currently reserved exclusively for that purpose to be used for other items in the governments budget. This includes the voucher program that a recent audit found over 2 million dollars of fraudulent use and the existence of which was found to be Unconstitutional.

In the Senate I would work to eliminate this unconstitutional program that is wasting the funds that should be going to building the minds of the future of this State and Country, as well as oppose continued efforts to strip those funds from its guaranteed place supporting that future

Defending our Children

The leading cause of death for children has been firearms for the last 6 years. In a completely baffling response to this problem the legislature, instead of implementing any of several common sense options to defend those children, put in place a law in 2024 that put more guns in schools by incentivizing teachers to be armed.

This along with laws preventing school boards, counties, or other local governments from implementing policies to limit this violence show a lack of regard for the safety of our children by the legislature.

I will work to reverse those limitations on local control as well as incentives to have more lethal weapons in our schools.

Connecting us Together

Expanding suburbs and upcoming Olympics require increased ability to move around the Wasatch front.

To address this problem I hope to Expand FrontRunner and Trax access throughout the expanding population centers, Increase bus routes in the West Side of Salt Lake Valley as well as branching into Davis and Utah Counties to allow connection from those Trains to the mountains that will be a huge part of that upcoming olympics, and Increase electrical infrastructure to support those trains as well as increasingly electric vehicles being driven by our people.

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