WHERE I STAND
Utah is rapidly becoming unaffordable for thousands and thousands of us. The price of groceries, rent, utilities double every few years. As a nation, nearly 70% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Why? Because we have a government that has long been captured by moneyed special interests who are building a "billionaire economy" that none of us can afford. I don't want to see Utah become a state of permanent low-wage rent-slaves. We all deserve the chance to buy a home, pursue an education, raise a family and, God forbid, afford healthcare if we ever need it.
I'm not just running against Rex Shipp: I'm running against the special interests groups that own him and everyone else in the Capitol. We need to take our state back and demand the future we deserve. A future with clean air and water, affordable housing, and a livable economy for all. We should not settle for politicians who speak in vague generalities about policy while trying to sell off our public lands, raise taxes, and take away our freedoms. Here is where I stand.
Most importantly, I want to hear from you, the people who live and work in District 71 as this platform grows and develops. Please reach out to tomleemonroe@gmail.com with any thoughts or additions you might have, or to schedule a further conversation.
UTAH FOR UTAHNS
America has entered a new Gilded Age. We now have a government of, by, and for billionaires—a direct result of disastrous court decisions, culminating in Citizens United, that opened the floodgates for the ultra-wealthy to buy our elections.
I’m not opposed to wealth or the American Dream. The idea that someone can start with nothing and build a better life through hard work is one of the great promises of this country. But today, that promise is slipping further out of reach for everyday Americans, no matter how hard they work. This isn’t a matter of personal failure—it’s the result of a rigged system designed to entrench those already at the top while silencing the rest of us.
I’m not against business owners or successful entrepreneurs. I’m against an entrenched class of globalist plutocrats and multinational corporations hijacking the very system that made them wealthy, then rigging it to ensure the rest of us never get a fair shot. I'm against their consolidation of political and economic power amongst a tiny elite while the rest of us are left with rising prices, stagnant wages, and shrinking opportunities.
In 1990, there were just 66 billionaires in America. Today, there are more than 900. Over that same period, the middle class has been hollowed out by soaring costs for housing, education, groceries, and healthcare. Most families now need two incomes just to stay afloat.
There are over ten times as many billionaires today—but does this feel like a country that’s ten times more prosperous for everyone else? Utahns deserve better. We deserve an economy where people can afford to start families, retire with dignity, and build small businesses without being crushed by forces they can’t compete with.
My priority as your House Representative is to fight for the working people of this state—not just those who can afford to buy a seat at the table, but the vast majority of Utahns who keep this state running every day. I will stand for an economy and democracy that works for all of us, not just the few at the top.
GRow a
grassroots
movement
and build a better Utah for everyone.
YOU DESERVE
A REPRESENTATIVE
WHO ACTUALLY FIGHTS FOR YOU.
REX SHIPP STANDS FOR NOTHING.
SEe where I stAnd
on the issues that matter Most
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
The housing crisis in Utah is no longer just a market fluctuation; it is a systemic failure. When home prices sit at six times the median income, thousands of families are forced to choose between a stable roof and basic necessities.
This crisis is aggravated by a legislature where roughly 38% of lawmakers—including nearly half of the State Senate—hold personal financial stakes in the real estate and development industries. These deep-seated conflicts of interest lead legislators to prioritize high-margin luxury projects and "free-market" corporate subsidies that have failed to lower costs over the common good of the people they serve. It's high time we prioritize residents over investors.
PROTECT OUR RIVERS,
LAKES, FORESTS & AIR
Unchecked environmental destruction poses a catastrophic threat to our collective future, risking a cascade of ecological collapses and profound human suffering. In Utah, this crisis manifests through "snow drought" and a disappearing Great Salt Lake, threatening to replace our mountain-fed water security with toxic, arsenic-laden dust storms.
As our snowpack diminishes, we face the permanent loss of the alpine and wetland ecosystems that sustain millions of migratory birds and our local way of life. Without common-sense regulation, we risk a future where the natural beauty we cherish is replaced by a toxic and degraded landscape.
THE BIG-TECH OLIGARCHY
Facebook and TikTok spent more than $240,000 per day lobbying Congress, employing an average of one lobbyist for every five congressmen.
Big-Tech billionaires have donated billions more to Trump in order to curry favor and it's paying off.
As Utahns, we need to take seriously how A.I. powered mass surveillance and the water intensive data-centers which fuel it affect our futures. We can't let paid-off-politicians refuse to regulate A.I.
THE ISSUES
AFFORDABLE
HEALTHCARE
EXPAND THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
Our for-profit health insurance system is a disaster that corporate-owned politicians only make worse. The United States spends more per person on healthcare than any other developed country in the world, yet we suffer worse health outcomes, lower life expectancy, fewer treatment options, longer wait times, and constantly rising costs. The result is simple and devastating: people in this country are dying unnecessarily at higher rates than in any other similarly advanced nation. The Affordable Care Act, while far from sufficient, was a meaningful step in the right direction. It made healthcare accessible to millions of previously uninsured Americans and continues to serve as a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of Utahns today. Voters understood this in 2018, when Utahns overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative to significantly expand Medicaid under the ACA. As usual, the Legislature responded by overriding the will of the voters. Instead of implementing the full expansion to 138% of the federal poverty level that voters approved, lawmakers passed SB96—a narrower, phased-in alternative that imposed work requirements, eligibility caps, enrollment limits, and federal waiver hurdles. The result was delay, confusion, and reduced access to care. While the ACA helps people afford insurance, it does little to control the underlying costs of healthcare. Insurance companies and healthcare conglomerates are still free to charge far more than necessary for coverage and treatment. That means taxpayer dollars and patient premiums are not primarily going to doctors, nurses, or medicine—they are being siphoned off by corporate middlemen to inflate executive compensation and shareholder profits. These companies are legally incentivized to maximize profits, often by delaying or denying care. When that profit motive governs healthcare, the consequences are deadly. United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was assassinated for this very reason. If we want to save lives, then we need to protect and improve access to care, not cut it. Recent national policy decisions are only making things worse. Under Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, Medicare is set to lose $45 billion in funding, while insurance premiums for millions of Americans are projected to double or even triple to unaffordable levels. What happens when people can no longer afford life-saving medications or critical treatment? Utahns will die. I will oppose any cuts to Medicare or Medicaid and will work to restore the damage that has already been done. Furthermore, I will always support Medicaid for All. Despite what corporate-owned media and politicians claim, removing profit-seeking middlemen from healthcare is how we lower costs, expand access, and save lives. Healthcare should serve people—not shareholders.
SUPPORT
SMALL BUSINESSES
STREAMLINE CO-OPS & EMPLOYEE-OWNED BUSINESSES
Small businesses are the backbone of Utah’s economy, yet they are being squeezed out by policies that favor multinational corporations over local entrepreneurs. Study after study shows that most Americans would rather work for a small business than a faceless corporate chain—and for good reason. Wages are often more competitive, workplaces are more humane, and relationships between employers, employees, and the community are stronger when everyone is invested in the same local economy. That investment pays dividends: small businesses keep money circulating locally, strengthen social ties, and build communities that are more resilient and self-sustaining. By contrast, when multinational chains move into a community, they may bring jobs, but often at the cost of lower wages, impersonal work environments, and the displacement of locally owned businesses. In Iron County, these corporations have been actively courted through massive tax breaks and deregulation—advantages that small-business owners are rarely, if ever, offered. COVID-19 accelerated small-business closures, but this is not a new problem. The erosion of local enterprise has been happening for decades. The question we should be asking is simple: why are Utah’s small-business owners paying higher taxes and facing more regulatory hurdles than multinational giants like Walmart and Starbucks? That imbalance is not inevitable—it is the result of policy choices, and it can be corrected. I will support legislation that cuts red tape for entrepreneurs, lowers fees for vendors, and makes it easier for local businesses to start, grow, and stay rooted in their communities. In particular, I support policies that encourage the formation of worker and consumer cooperatives, because co-ops strengthen local economies, empower workers, and provide stability during economic uncertainty. Unlike traditional corporations, cooperatives are owned and governed by the people who work for or rely on them, keeping profits local and prioritizing long-term community health over short-term shareholder gains. By simplifying legal requirements, offering targeted financial incentives, and providing training and technical support, Utah can make it easier for people to build community-owned businesses that last. Cooperatives create stable jobs, circulate wealth locally, and give people a real voice in the economic forces shaping their lives. Supporting small businesses and cooperatives isn’t nostalgia—it’s smart, forward-looking economic policy that keeps Utah’s communities strong, independent, and resilient.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
AFFORD A HOUSE IN YOUR HOMETOWN
The housing crisis in Utah is existential. The American Dream of owning a home and raising a family is under attack. Home prices have doubled since the pandemic, and despite neverending construction of low-quality townhomes and apartments, many Utahns can no longer afford to live where they grew up. Homelessness is up 18% statewide in 2025, with the number of chronically homeless increasing more than sevenfold since 2016. This is not sustainable. For decades, Utah’s leaders have prioritized corporate profits over people. State and local support for public housing has been gutted since federal law changes in the 1990s, and most Utah Republicans have financial ties to the private construction industry, giving them little incentive to pass legislation that puts families first. They argue that tax breaks to private developers will make housing affordable—but the data tells a different story. Prices continue to rise, and supply alone has not solved the problem. Salt Lake Tribune projections indicate Iron County will need more than 8,500 new homes by 2035 just to keep up with demand—but under current trends, how many will actually be affordable? Likely none. When young people cannot afford to buy a home, they cannot start families, threatening Utah’s future as a family-friendly state. We cannot let this continue. If Iron County—and all of Utah—wants a strong, worker-centered economy, we need housing that actually supports families, workers, and communities. While President Trump’s proposed executive order to ban large institutional investors from buying single-family homes is a step in the right direction, it is far from enough. Social housing is the solution. Social housing is publicly owned by cities, mixed-income to prevent segregation, high-quality, and permanently affordable, with rents tied to household income. Rather than rents funding a private landlord's third or fourth vacation home, surplus revenue is reinvested into maintenance or new projects, creating a sustainable source of new, affordable housing. In cities where programs like this have been implemented, they’ve seen remarkable success, proving that when we put people first, bold policy can actually solve our problems. Social housing is not meant to replace or compete with private developers—instead it fills the gaps that the market alone cannot. Market-rate developers face financing constraints that limit workforce and middle-income housing, while affordable housing programs rely on scarce tax credits that cannot meet demand. Social housing bridges this divide, providing stability, affordability, and long-term solutions as well as creating a permanent asset for local governments. I will support legislation that encourages the construction of permanently affordable, mixed-use social housing, working with local governments to implement models tailored to each city. We must move housing out of the hands of profit-driven developers and back into the hands of Utahns who need a home. The tools we’ve relied on for decades are not enough—if we want Utah families to thrive, it’s time to build something new.
HOMELESSNESS
DON'T CALIFORNIA MY UTAH — END CHRONIC POVERTY
Utah is facing a growing homelessness crisis. Families, seniors, veterans, and working people are being pushed onto the streets by skyrocketing housing costs, stagnant wages, and too few safety nets when they’re needed most. Nearly half of Utahns experiencing homelessness live with a disability and mental health or substance use disorders. When one missed paycheck or medical emergency can mean losing everything, it’s not a matter of personal responsibility—it’s systemic failure. The good news is that homelessness is solvable. Utah has already seen success with evidence-based solutions like Housing First, which prioritizes getting people into stable, permanent housing without unnecessary barriers. Time and again, the data show that deeply affordable housing is the foundation of long-term stability. Once housed, people are far more likely to address mental health needs, recover from addiction, find employment, and rebuild their lives. Supportive housing—paired with onsite services like case management, mental health care, addiction treatment, job training, and primary care—works, especially in rural communities where services are harder to access. It also saves money, costing far less than repeated emergency room visits, jail stays, and crisis interventions. I will work with the Utah Homeless Services Board to expand affordable housing, homeless shelters, food pantries, and integrated supportive services. Housing should be treated as the foundation of stability—not a reward. We can eliminate homelessness in Utah in a way that is compassionate, fiscally responsible, and grounded in evidence.
FIX THE LEGISLATURE
POLITICIANS EXIST TO SERVE — NOT TO RULE
It’s no secret that the Utah Legislature too often doesn’t work for Utahns. Lawmakers routinely undermine democratic accountability—rejecting or overriding the clear will of voters and passing laws that many of their own constituents oppose. This isn’t a matter of partisan disagreement; it’s a breakdown in representative government. According to a Utah Foundation survey, more than 70% of Utahns believe their elected officials are “too beholden to business, religious, or other special interests and ignore the will of the people.” I’m firmly with that majority. Our system was founded on the idea that power flows from the people upward—not from entrenched interests downward. Too many legislators in Utah seem to have forgotten that they are elected to serve us, not rule over us. In 2018, Utah voters made their will unmistakably clear by passing ballot initiatives to legalize medical marijuana, expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and create an independent redistricting commission to curb gerrymandering. Instead of honoring those decisions, the Legislature stepped in and rewrote all three—watering down Medicaid expansion, restricting medical marijuana access, and dismantling the independent redistricting process in favor of maps that protect incumbents and entrench one-party rule. These weren’t minor adjustments; they were direct reversals of voter intent. Even more alarming are recent attempts by lawmakers to formally weaken direct democracy itself—raising the threshold for ballot initiatives to pass and granting the Legislature greater authority to amend or repeal voter-approved measures, even through constitutional amendments drafted with misleading language. These efforts are not about good governance; they are about insulating politicians from accountability and making it harder for Utahns to challenge power when the Legislature refuses to listen. This is not democracy working as intended. When lawmakers face no real consequences for ignoring voters, accountability disappears—and with it, the promise of self-government. I will support bipartisan efforts to protect ballot initiatives, enforce the will of the people, and restore the basic principle that in Utah, political power belongs to the people—no matter who is in office.
TERM LIMITS
CLEAR THE PATH FOR FRESH IDEAS
Career politicians have become far too commonplace. Too often, leaders gain power and never let it go, coasting for decades on the advantages of incumbency. This is the opposite of the spirit of our democracy. Politicians exist to serve the people, not to rule over them. We should not have politicians in their 90s suffering from Alzheimer's and dementia who refuse to cede power to the next generation. It’s time for limits—real limits—on how long someone can hold office. I support placing term limits on congressional representatives at both the federal and state level. I will advocate for a United States Constitutional amendment and a state constitutional amendment to ensure that no representative can stay in office indefinitely. Specifically, I support strong term limits: six terms in the House of Representatives and three terms in the Senate. By imposing term limits, we can ensure fresh ideas, renewed energy, and true accountability in government. Leaders should be citizens called to serve, not career politicians entrenched for life.
CLIMATE ACTION
PROTECT OUR FORESTS & SNOWPACK
Utahns don’t need a lecture to understand climate change—we can see it with our own eyes. Winters are growing shorter and warmer. Snowpack is shrinking. Reservoirs and aquifers are dropping, while the Great Salt Lake recedes to historic lows. Utah now invests more in cloud-seeding than any other state in the nation because even a conservative legislature understands a basic truth: we cannot afford to do nothing while our water disappears. Too much of Utah’s economy—agriculture, tourism, skiing, outdoor recreation, and public health—depends on reliable snowpack, clean air, and a living lake. A 2025 Utah State University study found that more than two-thirds of Utahns accept that climate change is real and primarily driven by human activity. Yet even as Utah voters recognize the urgency, the Republican Legislature continues to ignore them. That reality is nowhere reflected in state policy. Instead, lawmakers consistently cater to corporate interests—handing out massive subsidies to coal, oil, and gas while growing increasingly hostile toward large-scale renewable energy. New taxes, stripped incentives, and regulatory barriers undermine clean energy development, even as leaders claim to support increased energy production. Utahns deserve better. The planet deserves better. Bold climate action does not have to hurt our economy or burden taxpayers. Done right, it strengthens both. Solar energy is now the cheapest source of power per watt available—investing in renewables is simple fiscal responsibility. By accelerating clean energy development, especially community-owned cooperatives and rural solar projects; modernizing the grid for storage and reliability; protecting net metering; offering targeted tax incentives for green technology; and expanding public transit and passenger rail, Utah can cut emissions while lowering energy costs and creating good-paying jobs across the state. Climate policy must also prioritize water. Strong conservation measures, agricultural efficiency grants, modern irrigation systems, wildfire mitigation, forest restoration, watershed protection, and enforceable safeguards for the Great Salt Lake are not optional—they are essential. These investments protect farms, drinking water, wildlife, and billions of dollars in economic activity. I support bold, forward-thinking climate policies because conserving Utah’s air, water, and land is about stewardship—not ideology. Clean air means healthier families and lower healthcare costs. Smart water policy protects agriculture, growth, and future generations in a drought-prone state. Utah can lead by embracing practical, fiscally responsible solutions that safeguard our land, our economy, and our way of life—without sacrificing jobs, energy reliability, or individual freedom. Utah should be a climate leader among conservative-leaning states, proving that environmental responsibility and economic vitality go hand in hand.
PROTECT OUR
PUBLIC LANDS
CLEAN WATER & AIR FOR GENERATIONS
One of the things that makes Utah truly special is our connection to awe-inspiring public lands. This is one of the few issues that unites Utahns across party lines. You don’t have to be wealthy or well-connected to enjoy our wilderness. Whether you’re a hunter, angler, hiker, camper, or simply someone who values open space, this land belongs to all of us—and that shared access is part of what defines life in Utah. Yet year after year, many Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate push efforts to sell off, privatize, or weaken protections for our public lands. Utahns have made their position unmistakably clear: we do not want this. Still, each legislative session brings another proposal, another deceptively worded bill, another attempt to override the will of the people in service of millionaire donors and corporate interests. This is not governance—it’s an end run around democracy. Our environment is not expendable. Our economy, our way of life, and our future depend on preserving what makes Utah worth living in. Once public lands are sold or permanently damaged, they are gone forever. No amount of corporate profit can replace clean air, clean water, or open land passed down to future generations. We have a moral responsibility to protect these places—not just for ourselves, but for our children and grandchildren. I will stand firmly against any effort to dismantle environmental protections or restrict access to public lands in Utah. We must strengthen these protections, close loopholes, and ensure meaningful enforcement against major polluters. Utah’s wilderness is not a bargaining chip for opportunistic politicians—it is our shared inheritance, and it deserves defenders in government willing to fight for it.
SAVE THE
GREAT SALT LAKE
PROTECT RIVER INFLOWS
Saving the Great Salt Lake is not optional—it is an economic, environmental, and public health necessity. The lake’s collapse threatens billions of dollars in economic activity, from mineral extraction to tourism, while exposing Utahns to toxic dust storms linked to arsenic, mercury, and other heavy metals that increase rates of asthma, heart disease, and premature death. The only proven way to save the lake is to restore inflows by using less water upstream. Yet some lawmakers continue to push reckless proposals to spend billions of taxpayer dollars diking the lake and intentionally shrinking it—plans that ignore the science, worsen pollution, and lock in permanent damage. Other ridiculous proposals include the construction of a one-hundred-billion-dollar multi-decade-long project to pipe seawater in from California. A study from BYU estimates that operating this pipeline would cost upwards of $300 million per year and release one-million-metric-tons of CO2 per year. Even more troubling is the resistance to meaningful water conservation from leaders with deep ties to water-intensive agriculture, including alfalfa production, one of the largest water users in the state. When those with financial interests tied to high water consumption are shaping conservation policy, the public has every right to question whose interests are being served. Restoring inflows to the Great Salt Lake is the cheapest, most effective solution we have—and the cost of failure will be paid by Utah families in lost jobs, higher healthcare costs, and irreversible environmental harm. As your Representative, I will fight for enforceable protections for the Great Salt Lake and common-sense water conservation policies across the state.
WATER CONSERVATION & FISCAL SANITY
STOP THE $280M PINE VALLEY WATER PROJECT
Water is Utah’s most pressing climate vulnerability. At the same time that our state is facing explosive population growth, we’re also experiencing less rainfall, shorter winters, and hotter, drier summers. We must confront the reality that water is scarce and manage it wisely—before scarcity threatens our communities, agriculture, and economy. Fifteen years ago, Iron County wisely rejected the Powell River Pipeline, avoiding over $1 billion in long-term costs, skyrocketing water rates, and decades of debt for a project that remains incomplete and unlikely to ever deliver promised water. Today, legislators are pushing the Central Iron County Water Conservancy District to spend $280 million in taxpayer-backed loans piping groundwater from Pine Valley to Cedar City—permanently increasing water rates by 300–700% to pay back the debt. I oppose this project. Like its predecessor, it is almost certain to run over budget and behind schedule, putting farmers, residents, and local economic stability at risk. The solution to our water problems is simple: conservation and efficiency. Water rates should reflect the true value of water in our desert environment, incentivizing responsible use and holding wasteful users accountable. Raising rates thoughtfully now prevents the Legislature from authorizing hundreds of millions in taxpayer-funded loans, which would only force even higher rates later—leading to conservation and negating the very justification for the project in the first place. That is real fiscal responsibility. Yet some politicians with financial ties to the real estate and development industry prioritize unchecked growth over the financial solvency of the communities they purport to represent. Utah’s outdated “use it or lose it” water law makes matters worse. Farmers who conserve water risk losing their allocation, incentivizing them to waste it unnecessarily. This is backwards. We should reward conservation, not penalize it, and ensure new developments integrate efficiency measures rather than wasteful practices like oversized lawns and non-native landscaping. I support practical, forward-looking policies to safeguard our water: expanding water-wise landscaping incentives, modernizing irrigation infrastructure to reduce waste, constructing additional reservoirs designed as recreational spaces, funding agricultural water-efficiency programs, creating swales to better manage watershed runoff, and requiring long-term water planning for new developments. Smart conservation protects our communities, our agriculture, and sustainable growth—without resorting to costly, risky infrastructure projects that put taxpayers and residents on the hook.
CLOUD SEEDING
ADAPTING TO POST-CLIMATE COLLAPSE
Utah already operates the most advanced cloud seeding program in the nation, with a budget that has surged from $200,000 to over $5 million in just three years. This is an admission. We are no longer debating whether climate change will reshape our future—we are living inside the outcome. The snowpack is shrinking, droughts are longer, and the water systems our state was built on are becoming unreliable. Cloud seeding is not a silver-bullet so much as a stopgap, a way to buy time in a future where water scarcity is no longer a future risk but a permanent condition of life in the Southwest. Cloud seeding is one of the few tools left to us that’s proven, relatively low-cost, and locally controlled. In a state where snowpack determines our water future, even modest increases in precipitation can mean more reliable drinking water, stronger agriculture, reduced wildfire risk, and greater resilience for rural communities. Using available science to protect our shared resources is essential to the future of our great state. But we should be honest about what this represents. As a society, we missed critical windows to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, and Utah will feel that reality acutely: hotter summers, longer droughts, more wildfires, shrinking reservoirs, stressed ecosystems, and rising pressure on working families, farmers, and tribal nations as conflict grows surrounding who gets access to what remains. Climate engineering should never become a substitute for reducing emissions or protecting natural systems—but in a post-climate-change world, adaptation is no longer optional. This should disturb us—and it does—but choosing inaction only accelerates collapse. My approach is to be honest about where we are, cautious about the tools we normalize, and committed to using them transparently and democratically while we continue fighting for a more stable, livable future. Ignoring reality won’t protect Utah—but facing it might. I’ll work with the Utah Division of Water Resources to drastically expand cloud seeding programs by imposing a progressive tax on excessive water usage exceeding 150,000 gallons annually. Furthermore, I will support the development of direct air carbon capture in Utah. While we must continue to fight for systemic, global emissions reductions, Utah should lead the way as a pioneer in red-state climate adaptation. As a postnote, I’ll always stand behind ambitious climate-legislation that helps reduce society’s suffering from climate-change while centering the truly responsible, systemic causes behind this global tragedy.
LOWER TAXES
FOR WORKING UTAHNS
MAKE MILLIONAIRES & CORPORATIONS PAY THEIR SHARE
Too much of our government has been captured by moneyed special interest groups through the funding of the campaigns of puppet candidates, effectively buying politicians in return for favorable legislation on their behalf. Decades of this system of legalized bribery has done enormous damage to our democracy that will take decisive leadership at every level of government to undo. At the Federal level, we have an absurd tax code where you and I pay more than the richest people in history. At the State level, the situation is just as bad. In 2008 Utah moved from the Graduated Income Tax system it had since 1931 to a Flat Tax. The new Flat Income Tax of 4.95% means that a worker making $30k a year will pay approximately $1,365 while someone making $300k will pay $13,500. Treating all income equally may seem fair on the surface, but it ignores the reality that low and middle-income taxpayers spend a far larger proportion of their overall earnings on basic needs — housing, food, healthcare — without undue tax burden, while the wealthiest earners in the state have massive expendable income. Simply stated, $1 of income means very different things to a household earning $30,000 versus $300,000. Furthermore, to make up for budget shortfalls the legislature routinely raises sales taxes and property taxes. In 2005 Iron County’s Property Tax was just 0.116% compared to today’s rate of 0.74%. For working class families who are already struggling to afford a home, a few thousand dollars a year can be the difference between a mortgage payment and foreclosure. I will support the reintroduction of a progressive graduated income tax that sees all Utahns making less than $50k a year pay zero annual State Income Taxes.
DEFEND
SOCIAL SECURITY
END TAXATION ON DISABILITY & RETIREMENT BENEFITS
Social Security has been under steady assault by politicians for decades. Whenever solutions are proposed for funding social services like childcare, social security, or education, it’s an endless battle for funding, even to simply hold onto what we still have, yet when President Trump proposes increasing the Military Budget by another $500B, Republicans are eager to get behind this. The callousness is clear, they are happy to use your taxes to fund billion dollar corporations, for-profit wars, and tax-cuts for billionaires, but when you actually need something for yourself, there is no money to go around. The party of Fiscal Responsibility has no plan for the millions of Americans entitled to Social Security benefits except for pain and suffering in the most vulnerable years of their life, but that’s fine because every politician has a publicly-funded pension that is safe from cuts. Our elderly and disabled deserve to live out their lives with dignity. We all deserve to benefit from a system that we’ve paid into all our lives. You don’t have an option not to pay Social Security taxes, so why do they have the option to defund it while overspending by trillions every year. Utah is one of only nine states that taxes Social Security income. I will support legislation to repeal this tax.
DEFEND
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
ENSURE PRIVATE SCHOOLS ARE PRIVATELY FUNDED
At the forefront of the Legislature’s attacks on public services is their assault on public education. Utah’s Constitution mandates funding for public schools—a principle overwhelmingly supported by voters—and has helped make our public education system one of the strongest in the nation. Yet corrupt politicians fear one thing above all: an educated, informed, and engaged populace. Instead of investing in our schools, the Legislature has passed laws diverting constitutionally allocated funds to homeschooling and private school voucher programs, channeling public money into private hands. Allison Sorensen, a key lobbyist for HB215 is on the record declaring she wanted the voucher program to "destroy public education". This underfunding erodes the quality of education and services, creating a vicious cycle: declining schools are then used as justification to divert even more funds elsewhere. Iron County, for example, now has the lowest per-student spending in the state. I will fight to end voucher programs and ensure that public funds are spent where they belong—on public schools, public students, and public goods—so every Utah child has access to a strong, well-funded education.
BANNED BOOKS
END GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP
Utah’s recent book bans are a direct threat to intellectual freedom, democratic values, and the educational development of our young people. Since the passage of House Bill 29 in 2024, the state has created a mechanism that leads to statewide removal of books from public school libraries based on the actions of a handful of districts. If a title is deemed “sensitive material” by just three school districts (or two districts plus five charter schools), it must be removed from every public school in Utah—a law that has already led to at least 22 banned books statewide, including Water for Elephants, Thirteen Reasons Why, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and multiple titles by Sarah J. Maas and other widely read authors. This censorship regime bypasses the judgment of educators, librarians, parents, and, most importantly, students themselves. Hundreds of books that address themes of identity, belonging, trauma, history, empathy, and moral complexity are now inaccessible to students simply because a few local officials labeled them inappropriate—a decision that then automatically dictates the educational resources available in every district. This trend is part of a broader rise in book bans across the country. In the 2024–2025 school year alone, PEN America documented 6,870 instances of book bans in U.S. schools—an unprecedented level of censorship aimed at controlling what students can read and learn. While proponents often frame these efforts as protecting children, the definition of “sensitive material” is so broad that it can sweep in stories about race, sexuality, gender identity, history, and lived experience that are vital to student understanding of the world. Government censorship has never worked in favor of enlightenment or democracy. Libraries and school libraries should be places where students encounter diverse ideas, develop critical thinking, and learn about perspectives different from their own—not places where adults preemptively decide what is “safe” or acceptable based on political pressure. Restricting access to books limits freedom of thought and undermines students’ ability to engage with complex topics, prepare for civic life, and understand the full richness of our culture and history. I will support legislation to overturn Utah’s book ban efforts and will work to protect the freedom to read in our schools and libraries. Students deserve access to a broad range of literature that helps them grow, think independently, and become informed citizens. Government should protect intellectual freedom and learning, not restrict it.
END THE FAILED
WAR ON DRUGS
LEGALIZE RECREATIONAL CANNABIS IN UTAH
Utah is currently experiencing a severe and evolving drug crisis with overdose deaths from fentanyl and meth increasing throughout the state while declining in other states. Spending our precious resources imprisoning people at a higher rate than any other nation in the world, including for benign substances like cannabis and psilocybin, is one of the more misguided policies in American history. Utah voters passed the Medical Cannabis Act in 2018 (Prop 2) which was immediately and significantly amended by HB3001. Like the legislature’s attempts to overturn Prop 4, I believe these amendments were too far astray from the intent of the law passed by voters. Specifically the elimination of I support recreational legalization of cannabis as well as clemency for those caught up in the dragnet of the War on Drugs. Cannabis legalization should benefit locally owned small-businesses, not multi-national corporations. California failed in legalization by restricting the number of licenses given to prospective dispensaries, effectively creating a bidding war for available licenses which created an insurmountable barrier to legal entry into the industry for all but the wealthiest investors. Unfortunately, those with sufficient funding were often connected with the black-market, such as Mexican Cartels. In contrast, New Mexico did not limit licenses to prospective growers or dispensaries, spurring small business competition while providing a consistent source of revenue to the state from entrepreneurs looking to break into the industry. Currently Utah law allows for only 14 legal dispensaries statewide. I will support legislation to lift the cap on licenses for cannabis growers and dispensaries with licensing and tax revenue used to fund anti-drug programs for youth, reintegration services for formerly incarcerated people, public-safety, and environmental programs. I will also support an amendment to allow for home-cultivation as intended in the original spirit of Prop 2.
TRIBAL SOVEREIGNITY
LET THE PAIUTES AND UTES SELF-GOVERN
The Paiute Indian Tribes of Utah are entitled to true sovereignty and self-determination. Too often, state and federal governments have trampled on the sovereignty of indigenous peoples. The Paiute’s only regained Federal Recognition in 1980 after decades of loss and erosion to their culture and heritage. Cultural preservation is an important part of tribal leadership’s priorities and having control over their own affairs is central to that. I will support the passage of the Indian Family’s Preservation Act (HB30), designed to protect native children by giving tribal courts jurisdiction over custody proceedings and tribal foster care homes standards.
EQUALITY FOR ALL
END POINTLESS POLITICAL THEATER
LEAVE THE CULTURE WAR IN 2020
I’m tired of politicians using small and vulnerable groups as political punching bags—whether based on race, sexual orientation, or gender identity—instead of doing the hard work of governing. Last session, Rep. Rex Shipp sponsored just four bills, and one of them targeted transgender minors by proposing a ban on puberty blockers. Regardless of where you stand on the issue (and I have serious concerns about medical interventions for minors), this proposal was pure political theater. Hormone therapy for minors was already banned statewide in 2023 under SB16. Reintroducing the same idea for the 2026 session doesn’t solve a problem—it manufactures one. This kind of performative culture-war legislation is meant to inflame voters, not improve lives. While politicians chase headlines and outrage, Utahns are struggling with real issues: housing costs, healthcare access, education, and wages. Conservatives and liberals alike deserve lawmakers focused on solutions, not scapegoats. I will support legislation that strengthens and enforces anti-discrimination protections for all Utahns—regardless of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity—because equal treatment under the law is not a partisan issue. It’s a fundamental American value.
TEEN SUICIDE
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR LGBT YOUTH
Despite having one of the highest teen suicide rates in the nation, the Utah Legislature has failed to adequately invest in the well-being of our youth. The causes of teen suicide are complex, but one contributing factor is the intense cultural pressure placed on young people in some LDS communities to conform—paired with deep alienation for those who do not, particularly LGBTQ youth. While religious involvement can be meaningful and supportive for many families across our state, research shows that LGBTQ youth often experience heightened stress, shame, and isolation in environments marked by non-acceptance, significantly increasing their risk of self-harm and suicide. Compounding this crisis, Utah ranks 48th in the nation for access to mental health services. That is unacceptable. When young people are asking for help, our state should not be turning them away. I support expanding mental health services in our schools, including LGBT-inclusive programs that ensure every student has access to care, support, and a future worth fighting for.
DEFEND VOTING RIGHTS
PROTECT UNIVERSAL MAIL-IN VOTING
Utah’s legislature is actively undermining one of the most successful voter participation systems in the country. For years, universal vote-by-mail has worked extraordinarily well in our state—secure, efficient, and widely trusted by voters across the political spectrum. In the 2024 primary election alone, 96.7% of Utah voters—more than 400,000 people—cast their ballots by mail or drop box. Yet Governor Spencer Cox and the Republican supermajority have chosen to dismantle it anyway. HB300 eliminates Utah’s long-standing grace period for ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but arrive shortly afterward. In the last election, roughly 2,000 Utahns voted on time but will now have their ballots thrown out solely due to postal delays. Voting rights advocates have been clear: this change does nothing to improve election security and does everything to make voting harder. But it goes further than that. Utah was previously one of only eight states—and the only fully Republican-led state—to automatically send mail ballots to eligible voters. Starting in 2029, Utahns will now be required to proactively request a ballot every year, adding another barrier that disproportionately affects rural voters, working families, the elderly, people with disabilities, and all of us living hours away from an election office or drop box. Supporters claim these changes are about “election integrity,” but no evidence has been presented that Utah’s vote-by-mail system was insecure or compromised. This is not happening in isolation. Utah’s changes are part of a coordinated national effort by Republican lawmakers and Donald Trump to narrow the window in which ballots can be counted, lower turnout, and undermine trust in mail-in voting. Universal mail-in voting strengthened Utah’s democracy by making participation easier, especially in a large, rural state. Weakening it undermines the fundamental principle that every voter deserves a voice. I will defend universal mail-in ballots and oppose any effort to suppress turnout. Democracy works best when participation is expanded—not restricted. Furthermore, I will support efforts to increase the number of ballot boxes in rural and underserved areas of the state.
INDEPENDENT
REDISTRICTING
FAIR MAPS — FAIR ELECTIONS
I support independent redistricting in Utah because our elections should reflect the will of the people, not the preferences of those in power. A broad coalition of Utah voters passed Independent Redistricting because they believed in the foundational principles of a fair democracy more than the partisan whims of a single party. Prop 4 could not have passed without bipartisan support. However, the legislature could not allow such a threat to their unchecked power over our elections as Independent Redistricting. To them it didn’t matter that half of Utah voters don’t identify as Republican or that many Republicans chose to support Independent Redistricting. All that mattered was legislating how they wanted, even if it meant undermining the will of the people. Seven years passed before a Judge ruled that the legislature’s maps were illegal. Still the legislature immediately tried to overturn Prop 4 by adding an initiative to the ballot that was so deceptively worded that another judge had it struck from the ballot. The United States is built on the premise of separation of powers. When legislators do not listen to the people and refuse to heed the judicial branch, they are spitting on the Constitution. Allowing politicians to draw district boundaries invites manipulation that can dilute voters’ voices and discourage civic participation. An independent process promotes transparency, fairness, and accountability by putting voters first and drawing districts that make sense for real communities. In the long run, independent redistricting strengthens trust in government and helps ensure that our legislature better reflects the diversity of perspectives across Utah. I will oppose any attempt by the legislature to enshrine their ability to draw their own maps in violation of Prop 4.
RANKED-CHOICE
VOTING
END THE TOXIC TWO-PARTY DUOPOLY
I support Ranked Choice Voting in Utah because I believe our elections should reflect the true will of the people, uplift our common ground, and strengthen our community’s voice, rather than forcing voters into strategic or “lesser-of-two-evils” choices. Under Ranked Choice Voting, voters rank candidates in order of preference from their favorite to their least favorite, and winners must secure majority support through an instant runoff process, producing outcomes that better reflect the broad will of the electorate rather than a simple majority election which often leaves 49% of voters feeling dejected and unrepresented. This approach also eliminates costly and low-turnout primary runoffs, saving local governments money, and encouraging more constructive politics by incentivizing candidates to appeal to a wider range of voters rather than only to their narrow partisan bases. Almost 30% of Utahns are registered as Unaffiliated and this is no accident. It shows that we want more than hyperpartisan, divisive politics. We want candidates that are actually willing to fight for all of us, not just represent the extremes of their partisan ideology. Every voter deserves to express their full range of preferences without fear that choosing the candidate they actually want will “waste their vote”. Ranked Choice Voting makes this possible by letting us rank all of the options. Imagine if a Libertarian, Independent, or Forward Party candidate could actually win an election in Utah? This type of voting system encourages civility, broader engagement, and majority support for winning candidates, helping communities come together around leaders who appeal to a wider cross-section of voters rather than just the loudest voices or most entrenched party. In Utah cities where RCV has been tried, a strong majority of voters said they want it to remain an option, showing broad public interest in a system that respects voter choice and strengthens trust in our democratic process. Surveys from the Herbert Institute show high voter approval (around 94% satisfied in 2023) and ease of use (around 82%) in RCV cities. I will support legislation to allow Ranked Choice Voting in all elections, from the local level to national level.
PROPORTIONAL
REPRESENTATION
END FORCED SUPPORT FOR
THE "LESSER OF TWO EVILS"
I support moving Utah to a proportional delegate system because every vote should count. Our current winner-take-all system lets a slim majority take 100% of our electoral votes, leaving hundreds of thousands of Utahns unheard. It forces voters to pick the “lesser of two evils” and shuts out third-party and independent voices. A proportional system changes that. Delegates are awarded based on the percentage of the vote each candidate earns, meaning voters can truly support the person they believe in. It makes elections fairer, increases participation, and forces candidates to listen to every community, not just politically “safe” areas. Currently only two-states in the country —Nebraska and Maine—have a proportional system for presidential delegates. If every state followed suit, we could end the two-party system once and for all. We can be an example for the nation, showing that even a deep red state like ours can rise above the toxic hyperpartisan divide that dominates modern politics to make our democracy stronger. Utahns deserve a system that represents everyone, not just the majority. Proportional allocation makes our democracy stronger, more inclusive, and ensures that every vote matters. As your Representative I will fight to support legislation that moves Utah towards a Proportional Delegate State.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
I grew up Christian, but it brings me no comfort—and no pride—to see my faith paraded by right-wing extremists like Donald Trump and Mike Lee to justify cruelty, greed, and power. Jesus taught us to love our neighbor, feed the poor, welcome the stranger, and care for those on the margins. Yet, the self-professed Christians operating the highest levers of political power today practice the opposite. Like the Pharisees Jesus called out for hypocrisy and internal wickedness, too many Church leaders and politicians claim to act 'in the name of God' while supporting legislation that harms the most vulnerable among us. Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:16 that “we will know them by their fruits”. Nearly 100% of Utah politicians identify as Christians, and a further 87% of Congress claims the same, but do we see a nation that reflects this. Eight men own as much wealth as 3.6 billion people, yet Christian nationalists boycott gay characters on TV, pass flag bans, buy Trump Bibles, and celebrate the domination of immigrants by masked agents. The first followers of Jesus were a revolutionary community built on radical love, a peculiar people who shared all their possessions and refused to participate in the economy, the military, or the culture. The Book of Acts tells us they were persecuted for turning the world upside down. Today, Christian nationalists obsess over people's private parts while the planet burns. When someone asked Jesus to name his most important commandment, he told us the first is to “Love God”. The second is to “Love thy neighbor as thyself”. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus specifically defines a neighbor as someone different from us, racially, economically, politically, religiously. As Christians, when we recognize the divine image in ourselves, we must also recognize it in our neighbors; Christian or not, religious or atheist, gay or straight. Christian nationalism is not only a threat to the American experiment in democracy, it’s also a threat to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Bible barely mentions abortion or gay marriage, the two cornerstones of religious politics in America, but it goes on and on about forgiving debt, liberating the poor, and healing the sick. Christian nationalists like to say this is a Christian nation and we should keep it that way. But if this was truly a Christian nation, we would forgive student debt. If this was truly a Christian nation, we would guarantee healthcare to every single person. We would love all of our LGBTQ neighbors. We would make sure every child in this state and in this country was housed, fed, clothed, educated, and insured. We would never seek to pass laws to enshrine ourselves as such because we’d know the table of fellowship is open to everybody, including our Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, and atheist neighbors. Jesus could have started a Christian theocracy, but love would never do that. The closest thing we have to the kingdom of heaven is a multiracial, multicultural democracy where power is truly shared among all people, something that’s yet to exist in human history. The powers that be have been taming Christianity for centuries, domesticating it, diluting it into something that lends itself to power, not challenges it. Pro-war, pro-wealth, pro-white supremacy. That original countercultural movement became tranquilized, privatized, weaponized religion, the official sponsor of Western Civilization. A religion of sharing became a religion of greed. A religion of peace became a religion of violence, used to justify colonization and imperialism. A religion of forgiveness became a religion of judgment. A religion of ego transformation became a religion of ego affirmation. When his disciples asked, who will be the most powerful in the kingdom of God? Jesus said, “You know the lords of the earth push their people around, but among you it’ll be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you, must be a servant.” That’s the kingdom of God. Politicians today forget that they are servants to the poor and oppressed, not the wealthy and powerful. As a Christian, I will continue to operate everyday with love and compassion for all. As a legislator, I will defend the separation of Church and State, fight for the poor, and challenge the powerful.
GUN CONTROL
DEFEND DEMOCRACY FROM SUBVERSION
As citizens of the United States, we are all entitled to the rights guaranteed by the Constitution—and we should exercise them. Democrats are often portrayed as the party of gun control, and frankly, every time there is another school shooting, it’s not hard to empathize with those searching for solutions. But gun rights are not a left-versus-right issue. Like our neighbors on the right, we are far more politically diverse than the corporate media wants us to believe. We must remember, in the face of constant media manipulation, that working people across the political spectrum share far more in common with each other than with the corporatocratic, globalist class that benefits from keeping us divided. That division is not accidental. It is cultivated by oligarchs who profit from polarization while quietly consolidating power over our economy, technology, and political institutions. From Peter Thiel’s corporate-governed “Freedom Cities,” to Larry Ellison’s mass-surveillance infrastructure, to openly anti-democratic ideologies emerging from elite tech and finance circles embraced by figures like J.D. Vance and Curtis Yarvin, some of the most powerful people in this country are no longer even pretending to be interested in preserving democracy—they are preparing to replace it. This is not a left-versus-right problem. It is us versus them. Democracy versus authoritarianism. Sadly, too many on the right have fallen for this programming and fail to recognize the threat. What is their response to rising authoritarianism and fascism? Labeling antifascists as domestic terrorists and celebrating violent crackdowns on peaceful protesters. A leaked memo bearing the signature of Trump’s longtime advisor, Roger Stone, urged authorizing a “new licensing program” that would empower the FBI and local law enforcement to confiscate firearms from anyone deemed an “enemy of the state,” with the criteria to be decided later. In this context, civil liberties matter more than ever—including the right to bear arms. I support the individual right to self-defense not because I hope for violence, but because history is clear: when power becomes too concentrated, rights that exist only at the discretion of the state or corporate elites can be revoked overnight. The right to bear arms is a defense of democracy itself. In recent years, we have seen the rapid erosion of democratic institutions, the consolidation of wealth into the hands of oligarchs with dictatorial ambitions, and the rise of technocratic power structures operating with little to no accountability. When political elites and corporate interests control our media, our economy, and even our elections, ordinary Americans are left vulnerable—not just economically, but politically. A society defined by ubiquitous surveillance, extreme wealth concentration, and the criminalization of dissent must take the preservation of all constitutional rights seriously. Gun rights are about more than hunting or sport; they are about balance. They serve as a deterrent against authoritarian overreach and a safeguard against state or corporate power imposed without consent. Concentrated power, left unchecked, will inevitably exploit the many for the benefit of the few. From oligarchs manipulating legislation to emerging technofeudal systems that bind people to corporate subservience, the public must retain the means to defend their communities and their freedoms. We must be prepared to stand united in defense of our liberty. Supporting gun rights is about preserving a last-resort safeguard for the American democratic experiment. It is about empowering workers, communities, and citizens to assert their rights in the face of entrenched power. True liberation—political, social, and economic—cannot exist if unaccountable elites wield absolute control. Protecting the right to self-defense ensures that democracy is not merely words on paper, but a living system in which power remains accountable to We the People. I will never support any legislation that restricts the right of the public to bear arms.
DATA CENTERS
WE SHOULD NOT SUBSIDIZE
RESOURCE WASTE BY BIG TECH
Utah is one of the driest states in the country, yet we’re being asked to absorb a wave of massive AI and cloud data centers that consume enormous amounts of water and electricity. We’ve seen what happens when states rush these projects without guardrails. In places like Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico, residents have faced higher power bills, rising water rates, and strained utilities as public infrastructure is expanded to serve Big Tech—while the costs are quietly passed on to everyday families and small businesses. Rather than confront this, our legislature is eagerly courting these projects in the state with local governments even offering lucrative tax-incentives in the process for the promise of investment and jobs that disappear as soon as construction ends. Utah cannot afford to repeat mistakes as these companies recklessly rush to transform the world. Our water is already stretched thin by drought and climate change that’s only projected to worsen in the years ahead, and public investment in our energy infrastructure should work for people, not just corporate server farms. If tech companies want to build here, they should pay the true cost of the resources they use, so Utahns aren’t subsidizing billion-dollar corporations through higher utility bills. Residential water and power rates should never rise just to accommodate private data centers. We should also demand long term responsibility and sustainability. Data centers should study ways to filter and reuse water resources as well as use renewable energy whenever it’s available, and when they rely on fossil fuels, they should pay a carbon-tax that funds community-owned clean energy generation and battery projects across Utah. If AI and data infrastructure is to be part of Utah’s future then it must benefit everyday Utahns, not just Big Tech. Economic growth should never come at the expense of our water, our environment, or working families. Utah can welcome innovation and accommodate the explosively profitable AI industry without giving away our most precious resources.
DEFEND UNIONS
PROTECT LABOR & BRING GOOD UNION JOBS TO UTAH
Unions mean higher wages, safer workplaces, and greater dignity on the job. That’s why some in the Utah Legislature have made it their mission to destroy them. Recently, Utahns stood up and rejected the Legislature’s latest attack on public-sector unions (HB267), a law that would have stripped workers of their collective bargaining rights. Thanks to vocal solidarity from police and fire unions, more than 320,000 signatures were gathered for a voter referendum. But instead of allowing Utahns to vote, the Legislature cowardly repealed the law to avoid facing the ballot. Make no mistake—the assault on unions is far from over. Utah Teachers, whose pay lags behind the national average, are the Legislature’s primary target. Future proposals will likely include carve-outs for police and fire unions, in the hopes that Utah teachers won’t have the backup they need this time. By undermining unions, the Legislature can continue suppressing wages and eroding worker protections. I will fight to protect Utah workers’ right to organize. I support strong legislation guaranteeing union protections and imposing significant penalties on anyone who engages in illegal union-busting. Utahns deserve fair wages, safe workplaces, and the ability to stand together without fear of political retaliation.
RAISE THE WAGE
LET LOCAL GOVERNMENTS LIFT THEIR MINIMUM WAGE
The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 an hour since 2009. No one in America can survive on $7.25 an hour without relying on family support, public assistance, or multiple jobs. In a state that is actively dismantling social safety net programs, that reality is not just unjust—it’s unsustainable. Working people are being asked to do more with less while the cost of housing, groceries, healthcare, and childcare continues to skyrocket. The Legislature claims that raising wages would cause inflation, yet Utahns have already been living through years of inflation while wages have remained stagnant. Prices have gone up anyway. What hasn’t gone up is pay. Meanwhile, massive corporations like Walmart make over $20 billion in annual profits while training employees on how to qualify for public assistance. These same corporations aggressively lobby against minimum wage increases and bankroll politicians willing to protect their profits at the expense of working families. When the minimum wage was established in 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was clear about its purpose: “No business which depends for its existence on paying less than a living wage to its workers has any right to continue in this country.” That principle remains just as true today. If Congress refuses to act, states and local governments must be allowed to step in. Unfortunately, since 2001, Utah law has prohibited cities and counties from setting a minimum wage higher than the federal floor. So much for “local control.” Local governments understand their communities far better than distant legislators or a gridlocked federal government, and they should have the authority to respond to local cost-of-living realities. I will support legislation to repeal Utah’s minimum wage preemption law and restore the right of cities and counties to raise wages—so working Utahns can afford to live where they work.
STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS
HELP UTAH'S ESSENTIAL WORKERS STAY OUT OF DEBT
We should be able to verify that our tax dollars are not being mismanaged on wasteful infrastructure projects, corporate handouts, and flat-out corruption. Too much of our tax dollars are unaccounted for, given to a politician’s friend’s business or non-profit with zero oversight. An office manager at the Iron County Building Department was able to embezzle $188k between 2018 and 2025 due to “poor practices surrounding account reconciliation” according to the State auditor. This was only discovered thanks to a whistleblower. FLDS families use loopholes to collect welfare benefits many times over what they’re entitled to, causing everyday taxpayers to effectively subsidize polygamy. Recently an Inland Port was approved District 29. Adjoining land bought for just $200k a few years earlier is now worth over $35ok an acre. The catch? It belongs to Zenith Bolinder, the family member of Bridger Bolinder, District 29’s Republican House Representative. Ken Ivory, a former House Republican, left his position in government to take on a new executive role at Geomancer, a company he had just recently helped secure a $700k contract from the State, taking a job at the same firm hired by the Committee he used to chair! There exists a serious problem in Utah politics of this type of corruption. At every level of government from City Council to House and Senate, politicians are heavily invested in the development industry, directing public money to fund private developments. I will support legislation aimed at weeding out waste, fraud and corruption in how our public funds are utilized, encouraging fair bidding on all government projects, and strengthening ethics requirements for our politicians.
BALLOT INITIATIVES
PROTECT THE PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION
I support ballot initiatives in Utah because they give citizens a direct voice in shaping the laws and policies that govern their lives. The initiative process exists as a check on government power, ensuring that when elected officials are unwilling or unable to act, the people can still bring forward ideas with broad public support. Efforts by the legislature to weaken initiatives or make them harder to qualify undermine this fundamental democratic tool and concentrate more power in the hands of a few. If an idea can meet the clear, rigorous requirements to earn a place on the ballot, then voters—not politicians—should have the final say. Protecting the initiative process is about respecting the will of the people and preserving a meaningful avenue for civic participation in Utah. I will oppose any legislation that attempts to undermine Utahns right to propose ballot initiatives or seeks to alter initiatives which have passed.
IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT
UNMASK THE SECRET POLICE — BODY CAMERAS FOR ICE
Since Trump took office in 2024, ICE’s budget has reportedly increased by 400%, while officer training has been slashed from five months to just 47 days—apparently for no reason other than symbolic alignment with Trump being the 47th president. The result is predictable and dangerous: inexperienced agents operating with enormous power, breaking the law, violating civil rights, and escalating violence rather than enforcing justice. A ProPublica investigation found that ICE has mistakenly detained more than 170 American citizens during these raids. Thirty-two people have died in ICE custody. Agents conduct operations in unmarked vehicles, wear masks, conceal their names, and operate with minimal accountability. Children are separated from their parents and, in some cases, lost to the system entirely. Immigrants are deported to countries they never lived in and have no connection to. Recent court rulings and internal agency guidance have only deepened these abuses. The Supreme Court has ruled that skin color alone may be sufficient cause for detention and investigation, while an internal ICE memo obtained by the Associated Press asserts sweeping authority to enter homes without a judge’s warrant—directly contradicting long-standing Fourth Amendment precedent. This is not law enforcement; it is intimidation. Is this the country we want to live in—a country where masked agents can demand your papers at gunpoint or else? I do not support open borders. But immigration enforcement is not the real motivation behind this escalation. The goal is to normalize fear, to embolden white-supremacist attitudes at the highest levels of government, and to redefine who is allowed to belong in America. The American Dream does not belong to white nationalists—it belongs to everyone. We must ask ourselves who truly strengthens our founding principles, and who, like the Trump administration, is actively eroding them. This country desperately needs serious immigration reform. Unfortunately, multinational corporations have no interest in fixing the system. They benefit from undocumented laborers with no rights—workers they can underpay, exploit, and discard. In a glaring act of hypocrisy, Trump has excluded undocumented hotel and farm workers from his administration’s crackdown, protecting corporate interests while terrorizing families. We need both strong border security and a clear, humane path to citizenship. We cannot have one without the other. I will support legislation requiring ICE agents operating in the State of Utah to remove their masks and wear visible identification at all times. Secondly, I will fight to prevent local law enforcement from acting as an arm of ICE so that immigrants can safely report crimes, like domestic violence, robberies, and gang activity without fear of deportation. Lastly, I will also support legislation requiring all law enforcement to wear body cameras when conducting operations in our state. We do not need a secret police terrorizing our neighborhoods. Authority without accountability is fascism.
PROTECT A WOMAN'S
RIGHT TO CHOOSE
ENSURE B0DILY AUTONOMY FROM STATE OWNERSHIP
I support a woman’s right to choose because decisions about pregnancy belong to the individual most affected, not to politicians or the government. In Utah, where families and faith are deeply valued, respecting personal conscience and moral agency is essential. No two pregnancies are the same, and no law can account for the complex medical, emotional, and personal realities women face. Protecting the right to choose means trusting women to make deeply personal decisions in consultation with their families, doctors, and beliefs, without fear of criminalization or political interference. At its core, this is an issue of autonomy and consent. Even if one believes a fetus has moral value, it remains biologically dependent on the woman for life, and compelling her to carry a pregnancy to term forces the use of her body without consent. In no other area of law do we require one person to surrender bodily autonomy to sustain another’s life; we do not mandate organ donation, blood transfusions, or physical risk, even when a life is at stake. Applying this same principle consistently means recognizing that forcing pregnancy is a violation of individual liberty and self-ownership. Protecting the right to choose affirms dignity, personal responsibility, and the fundamental belief that the state should not have the power to commandeer a person’s body for any purpose. Safeguarding this freedom is about dignity, privacy, and the fundamental principle that individuals—not the state—should control their own bodies and futures. I will support efforts to repeal Utah’s restrictive abortion ban and prevent SB174, a trigger law aimed at implementing a total ban, currently blocked through a temporary court injunction, from ever being implemented in the state.
CHILDCARE FOR ALL
SUPPORT UTAH FAMILIES
Utah parents are being pushed into poverty and forced out of the workforce because childcare costs have become unaffordable for too many families. In Utah alone, infant care can cost well over $11,000 per year on average, and many working families spend upwards of 30 % of their income on childcare—far above the federal guideline that care should cost no more than 7 % of family income. These challenges have real economic consequences: Utah’s economy loses more than $1.2 billion annually due to workforce disruptions tied to inadequate childcare, and large gaps remain between childcare demand and available slots. Many Utah families relied on the expanded Child Tax Credit and other pandemic-era supports to help cover childcare expenses, but unless Congress acts in 2025, much of that financial relief will disappear, leaving working parents with even less breathing room. At the same time, federal childcare assistance—like the Child Care and Development Block Grant—reaches only a fraction of families who are eligible and often doesn’t cover enough of the real costs. We know from other states that bold policy can make a measurable difference. New Mexico recently became the first state in the nation to offer universal free childcare for nearly all families, saving parents as much as $12,000–$16,000 per child annually and supporting workforce participation by reducing the financial barriers to employment. This policy helped lift roughly 120,000 people above the poverty line and significantly reduced childcare worker poverty as well. Other states are experimenting with innovative models that share costs between families, employers, and government. For example, New York launched an employer-supported childcare pilot that splits care costs between parents, employers, and the state, making care affordable for moderate-income families who often fall through the cracks of traditional subsidy programs. These models demonstrate two key truths: when childcare becomes affordable, more parents—especially mothers—are able to remain employed; and healthy early childhood experiences yield long-term benefits for children’s development and economic prospects. Research shows that quality early childhood care and education programs correlate with better educational outcomes and higher lifetime earnings. Programs like the Abecedarian Project, for instance, found that high-quality early care led to significantly higher levels of education, employment, and reduced reliance on public assistance later in life. If we want Utahns to be able to afford to start families and remain active in the workforce, we cannot simply hope for change—we must legislate it. I will support legislation to expand childcare services in the state, including incentives for providers, direct support for families, and public-private partnerships that increase supply and lower costs. By learning from successful state efforts and tailoring policies to Utah’s unique needs, we can remove barriers that currently force parents into poverty or out of employment and build an economy that works for families, not against them.
PASSENGER RAIL
CONNECT THE STATE & BOOST OUR ECONOMY
Expanding passenger rail in Utah to connect communities like Logan, Salt Lake City, Moab, Cedar City, St. George, and Las Vegas is a long-term investment in both economic resilience and environmental responsibility. A statewide and regional rail network that knits together Utah’s urban centers, college towns, and tourism hubs, would make it easier for workers, students, and visitors to move across the state without relying on congested highways or long car trips. Over time, passenger rail would drive economic growth throughout the state by attracting businesses, boosting tourism, increasing property values near stations, and creating stable, well-paying jobs in construction, operations, and maintenance. Environmentally, rail is far more energy-efficient than cars or short-haul flights, reducing carbon emissions, air pollution, and water-intensive road expansion—critical benefits in a fast-growing, drought-prone state like ours. By planning now for rail that connects northern Utah, the Wasatch Front, southern Utah, and Las Vegas, we can reduce traffic, improve quality of life, and build a transportation system that supports Utah’s growth without sacrificing its air, land, or long-term economic health. Furthermore, much of the proposed rail lines already exist, requiring relatively short connections to create a truly comprehensive statewide rail network. For too long, our communities have been built centered around automobiles, exacerbating urban sprawl, ecosystem collapse, and air-pollution. I will work with organizations like the Utah Rail Passengers Association to support efforts to secure Federal Funding for the expansion of passenger rail in Utah.
TAKE ON CORRUPTION
STOP WASTING TAXPAYER DOLLARS
We should be able to verify that our tax dollars are not being mismanaged on wasteful infrastructure projects, corporate handouts, and flat-out corruption. Too much of our tax dollars are unaccounted for, given to a politician’s friend’s business or non-profit with zero oversight. An office manager at the Iron County Building Department was able to embezzle $188k between 2018 and 2025 due to “poor practices surrounding account reconciliation” according to the State auditor. This was only discovered thanks to a whistleblower. FLDS families use loopholes to collect welfare benefits many times over what they’re entitled to, causing everyday taxpayers to effectively subsidize polygamy. Recently an Inland Port was approved District 29. Adjoining land bought for just $200k a few years earlier is now worth over $35ok an acre. The catch? It belongs to Zenith Bolinder, the family member of Bridger Bolinder, District 29’s Republican House Representative. Ken Ivory, a former House Republican, left his position in government to take on a new executive role at Geomancer, a company he had just recently helped secure a $700k contract from the State, taking a job at the same firm hired by the Committee he used to chair! There exists a serious problem in Utah politics of this type of corruption. At every level of government from City Council to House and Senate, politicians are heavily invested in the development industry, directing public money to fund private developments. I will support legislation aimed at weeding out waste, fraud and corruption in how our public funds are utilized, encouraging fair bidding on all government projects, and strengthening ethics requirements for our politicians.
RIGHT TO PRIVACY
KEEP THE GOVERNMENT & BIG-TECH BILLIONAIRES
OUT OF OUR PRIVATE LIVES
Government intrusion and surveillance into every aspect of our lives should concern every American. The Trump administration’s marriage with Big Tech Billionaires like Peter Thiel, Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg represents an incredible threat to our democracy and right to privacy. Billionaire Larry Ellison is on the record saying that the infusion of surveillance technology and AI data-processing into the government will ensure “citizens remain on their best behavior because we are constantly recording and reporting everything that’s going on”. Who defines what that means? The pedophiles partying on Epstein’s island should not have the authority to invade our right to privacy, let alone determine laws to contain our behavior. The government and their billionaire buddies have no right to surveil anyone without due process or suspicion of wrongdoing. DOGE handed unfettered access to the private data of every American to an unelected civilian who’s only right to from a $250 million dollar donation to the President's campaign. In the end it cost us more money than it saved while simultaneously exposing that data to the owner of one of the largest social-engineering platforms on Earth and God knows who else. Are we expected to believe the other tech-billionaires in Trump's orbit simply support his platform? No, they expect to be compensated for their investment in his success. Trump passed an Executive Order restricting State’s ability to regulate AI for 10 years. So much for State’s rights. This surveillance state has gone too far. I will support strong legislation to reestablish our rights to privacy, support safeguards against violations, and restore due process. Furthermore, I will support legislation to restrict corporation’s use of AI to surveil, track, and subject Utahns to predatory pricing algorithms.
A.I. AND AUTOMATION
PROTECT UTAH WORKERS FROM BEING DISPLACED
We stand at a defining moment in our economic history. Artificial intelligence and automation promise incredible gains in productivity, efficiency, and innovation, but when these technologies and their products are owned and controlled by a tiny group of ultra-rich tech-billionaires, they also stand to pose a real threat to the livelihood of workers they seek to replace. From manufacturing and transportation to customer service and administrative roles, advances in AI are rapidly replacing jobs that once provided stable incomes for middle-class Utah families. Alongside this, massive data centers are acceleratingly springing up across Utah, increasing energy bills and draining aquifers. If we fail to act, we risk creating a future where work is scarce, prices are high, inequality deepens, and entire communities are left behind. We must ensure that progress serves everyone. That requires proactive, long-term planning on multiple fronts. We should foster industries that create well-paying jobs in sectors that are less susceptible to automation and more valuable to human skill, such as healthcare and caregiving, creative industries, education, counseling, and human services, advanced technology sectors requiring human judgment and ethical oversight, and wildlife and ecological restoration projects, while simultaneously reducing barriers to affordable education so that workers displaced by automation have reliable pathways to skill-building and retraining programs. We should also provide wage insurance and relocation assistance for workers transitioning between industries, and support on-the-job training models that allow Utahns to earn while they learn. AI and automation are already reshaping the global economy, and Utah must be ready. Smart policy can turn this unprecedented challenge into an opportunity—but only if we act with vision and urgency. My long-term plan is to ensure that every Utahn, regardless of background or skill level, has access to meaningful work, opportunities for advancement, and economic security. We must build an economy that embraces innovation without abandoning the people who live under it. That is how we keep Utah strong, prosperous, and free in the decades ahead.
AMERICA DOESN'T NEED AIPAC POLITICIANS
OR MOSSAD BLACKMAIL
THE WAR IN GAZA
WITHDRAW UTAH SUPPORT FOR GENOCIDE
As a House Representative, I have little power to influence Federal Policy regarding our financial support for the Netanyahu regime and their brutal war on Gaza, but I feel strongly that anyone pursuing elected office should declare their position on the matter. I will not mince words on this. We are sending billions of American taxpayer dollars to fund the murder and starvation of non-comabtant men, women, and children in Gaza in what can only be described as a genocide against the Palestinian people. Netanyahu is a war criminal who deserves to be brought to justice, not lead a nation. And we should not send one more dollar to Israel to fund his massacre. Rex Shipp has cosponsored Senate Bill 97 to ban and penalize people and organizations engaging in boycotts against the State of Israel. Not only is this a direct attack on Utahns First Amendment Right to free speech, it forces complicity with a rogue state that is killing and starving children. No state has the right to criminalize political protest or silence dissent on behalf of a foreign government. I stand with all people seeking peace, democracy, and self-determination. In this moment that means a clear-eyed condemnation of the Gaza Genocide and the use of every lever of American influence—diplomatic, economic, and political—to bring the killing to an end.
RELEASE
THE EPSTEIN FILES
JUSTICE FOR ALL — PROSECUTION FOR PEDOPHILES
NOT PROTECTION
During the Trump administration, the Department of Justice effectively closed the Epstein investigation, asserting that there were no additional accomplices or perpetrators worth prosecuting. This was an insult to common sense, triggering a rare bipartisan revolt led by Republican Representative Thomas Massie and Democrat Representative Ro Khanna to force the full release of the Epstein files so the public could see the truth for itself. While a handful of Republicans had the courage to join them, most did not, instead falling in line behind Trump and refusing to support disclosure. Despite sustained efforts to block it, Congress ultimately compelled the release of the files by December 19th, 2025. That deadline came and went. To date, less than 1% of the files have been made public, with hundreds of pages so heavily redacted they may as well not exist at all. This flagrant violation of one of the most widely supported bipartisan initiatives in American history are not the actions of innocent people. It's obstruction. This is what power protecting itself looks like. If there is nothing to hide as Trump’s Department of Justice claims, there should be no reason to shield names, connections, and evidence from public scrutiny. The Epstein documents should be released in full, without partisan filtering or political protection. If it tears the whole house down, then that is what needs to happen. If the evidence implicates powerful Democrats, they should face prosecution. If it implicates Republicans, they should face prosecution. If it implicates billionaires, CEOs, donors, and media figures at the highest levels of society, they should face prosecution. Justice for all means that no one is entitled to immunity from the rape and abuse of children regardless of how rich, famous, or politically connected they may be. Demolishing the system that allows the worst people on earth to buy silence and escape justice is both our patriotic duty and moral imperative. The sex trafficking of children is among the most evil crimes imaginable, and anyone involved — no matter how high they sit — belongs in prison. A country that hides evidence to protect elites while demanding obedience from everyone else is not free. If we are serious about building a better country, transparency is not optional, and justice cannot stop where power begins. The Epstein files must be released in full, unredacted, and the truth must be allowed to land wherever it lands.
Thats it for now.
Email tomleemonroe@gmail.com if you want to hear my stance or thoughts on anything else.
