Candace Salima Resigns Her Position

We are sad to announce that Candace Salima has resigned her position as Legislative District 60 Chair. It wasn't an easy decision but she feels confident that Barbara Petty will do an excellent job in her place.

Legislative Update from Rep. Brad Daw

Representative Brad Daw has always been wonderful at keeping his constituents updated. Here is his latest report from Wednesday's Interim Session of the Utah House.

This week was interim day at the Capitol. If you would like to get a full rundown from all the committees you can take a look at the Interim Highlights. 

Three items I have been working on made news headlines this week. The first was dealing with speed limits.

Higher Speed Limits

I chaired the Transportation Committee and we had a discussion about the 80 MPH study areas on the way to St. George. The report from UDOT indicated that traffic accidents related to speed had not increased by raising the speed limit and that the average speed of traffic had only gone up 2 MPH. So the net result was not cars going a lot faster but more cars in compliance with the speed limit law. This prompted the committee to move ahead with converting the study areas to full fledged 80 MPH zones. For more details you can read the news report here. 

More Hard Times For UTOPIA 

The revenue and tax committee reviewed the audit of UTOPIA that I called for last year. Prior to the audit, the Senate chair of the committee wrote this editorial blasting UTOPIA's response to the audit. Things for UTOPIA did not improve in the committee meeting itself. Many members of the committee were very critical of UTOPIA and various ways of stopping the flow of taxpayer dollars to finance UTOPIA's ever increasing debt were discussed. You can read a report from the committee here. 

Smoking in the Car 

In Health and Human Services committee we heard the annual bill banning smoking in the car when kids 15 or younger are present. This was presented along with dire predictions of health risks if we continued to ignore this terrible plague. They carefully avoided mentioning that any kid with smoking parents is going to get exposed to far more second hand smoke at home than they ever will in a car. And that, for me was the problem. If we start stepping into private property to ban a legal if disgusting activity because the private property is a car then just how close are we to stepping into people's homes to do the same thing? In the past, I have been joined by other colleagues in voting against this bill that is far more symbolic than substantial, but this year I was the lone no vote. Here is a write up on the bill. Any comments on these or any other topic are always welcome. 

Yours sincerely,
Brad Daw

Senator Mike Lee Opposes Nomination of Hurwitz to Ninth Circuit Court

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Lee Opposes Nomination of Hurwitz to Ninth Circuit Court

Today, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) shared the following statement in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing regarding Andrew Hurwitz, President Obama's nominee to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals:

"I oppose the nomination of Andrew Hurwitz based on concerns I have with his constitutional jurisprudence.  In a 2002 New York Law School Law Review article, Mr. Hurwitz in effect took credit for helping develop the legal architecture for Roe v. Wade.  Mr. Hurwitz served as law clerk to then-Judge Jon Newman at a time that Judge Newman issued an opinion that Mr. Hurwitz asserts played an important role in developing the legal framework used to justify Roe v. Wade.  Far from deflecting credit from himself as the clerk in chambers during that time, as I believe a former clerk should, Mr. Hurwitz recounted that, in a subsequent interview for a subsequent clerkship, a Supreme Court justice had “jokingly referred” to him as “the clerk who wrote the Newman opinion.”  

"Mr. Hurwitz has asserted that his law review article was descriptive and did not express his personal opinion as to the merits of Roe v. Wade, but to anyone who has reviewed Mr. Hurwitz’s article and the laudatory tone with which it discusses that Supreme Court opinion,this response is simply not credible.  Mr. Hurwitz specifically praised Judge Neuman’s “careful and meticulous analysis of the constitutional issues,” calling that analysis “striking, even in the hindsight of thirty years.”

"Mr. Hurwtiz cannot have it both ways.  He cannot seek credit for his role developing a jurisprudence that is completely unmoored from the Constitution and that has fundamentally disrespected human life, and then later claim that he was only retelling a story as an outside observer.  There is growing consensus among legal experts and scholars, both conservative and liberal, that Roe was a deficient opinion that lacks any legitimate legal reasoning in support of its holding.  

"Mr. Hurwitz’s willful failure to recognize the grave deficiencies of the Roe opinion, and his self-promotion for playing a part in such an unfortunate event in this country’s judicial history, casts an unacceptable degree of doubt on his capability to serve in the role of a federal appellate judge.  

"Prior to President Obama’s unconstitutional “recess” appointments, I gave his judicial nominees great deference. Both in the Judiciary Committee and on the Senate floor, I have voted in favor of the vast majority of the President’s nominees, including many with whom I fundamentally disagree. But I can do so no more.  There is and must be a new standard for the President’s judicial nominations.  A standard under which a problematic and controversial nominee such as Mr. Hurwitz cannot receive my support."

A video of Senator Lee's remarks can be viewed here. 

Communications Director

Brian Phillips>

Brian_Phillips@lee.senate.gov

202-224-5444

Press Secretary

Emily Bennion

Emily_Bennion@lee.senate.gov

202-224-3904

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Utah's Caucus System Explained

New Legislative District 60 Chair

On January 28,2012 we attended our quarterly Central Committee Meeting. Everyone who is elected as a Precinct Chair or Vice Chair comprises the body of this meeting. It is where we vote on issues critical to the county party, prepare for elections, caucuses, have district elections, etc. I ran for Leg 60 Chair and won.

My vision for our district is threefold. I very want to unite a district that has become quite divisive. Regardless of which side we are in the issues, in my opinion, when we come together as a district we must focus on spreading the Republican message, registering voters and getting out the vote, and supporting our candidates and elected officials.

On March 15th we will hold the statewide caucuses for the Republican Party. At each of these caucuses new precinct officers will be elected: Precinct Chair, Vice-Chair, and Secretary/Treasurer as well as state and county delegates. It is our goal to get every voting Republican in Legislative District 60 to the caucus. Here, patterned after the representational government our Founding Fathers gave us, we elect those who will meet with candidates, research them and the issues, and whittle the Republican field down to one candidate who will represent us in November.

We face a historic time in America and are in the battle for her very soul. It is my hope that we can have record turnouts at our  caucuses  and at the polls. It is one of my strongest beliefs that in order to salvage our nation, we must begin at home. Our political home begins in District 60 of Utah County's Republican Party. I look forward to working with everyone.

Because I am now the Leg Chair, I will not be able to conduct our March 15 Caucus. Robin Devey, who is my vice-chair, will conduct that night. It has been an honor to serve the Orem 28th Precinct for all these years. I intend to remain active and will be seeking a state delegate position so that I may continue to represent you. Thanks for your confidence all these years. I am certain I am leaving you in very competent hands.

Thank you,

Candace Salima

Leg 60 Chair

Brad Daw: Legislative Update

Commencement Newsletter

Dear Neighbor,

The Utah State Legislative Session has begun and is already in full swing. There is a lot going on at Capitol hill that I'm excited to share with you. To address concerns raised at the last City Council meeting, I have included a brief summary of Representative Ken Ivory's mission to take back our Utah state lands, below. This really is wonderful work and we are all behind him and wishing him the greatest success. First off however, we had a very provoking presentation delivered in the Committee of Higher Education that I'd like to share, on the potential usurpation of higher learning.

The future of Higher Education?

In the Committee of Higher Education this week, we were privileged to hear from Professor Clayton Christensen, a Professor of Business at Harvard University, who delivered a very interesting presentation on his projected views for the future of higher education. According to Professor Christensen, higher education is now in a position to be disrupted by developing institutions such as the evolvement of online learning. In other words, the growth of online learning is on track to compete with prestigious universities and higher education. The University of M.I.T. provided a perfect example of this when they recently allowed their courses to be taken online. Students around the world are now able to complete coursework taught by the brightest Professors in the country and they do not have to be full time students of M.I.T. to do so. And so this raises the question: What does this development mean for Professors and classes of introductory curriculum? In other words, why would students want to attend a public university Physics 1010 class when they could take Physics 1010 from the most capable Professor of physics in the country? It will be interesting to see how this idea progresses as the world of online learning continues to grow exponentially. In fact, Professor Christensen had a very amusing story about the University of Phoenix that he used to emphasize this conclusion.

Taking back Utah State Public Land

As promised, I'd like to give you a brief overview of Representative Ken Ivory's work to take back our state lands from the federal government. Take a look at this map to see how outrageous the issue really is. Notice Utah is number three on the list of the top ten states of federally owned land. Also note the drastic differences between the two coasts. Representative Ivory is currently working with lawmakers in five western states to pass similar legislation: Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Idaho, and Wyoming. It is absolutely essential that the states control the majority of their public lands.

On a lighter note,

A friend of mine sent me this link that I found to be amusing in light of today's current debt crisis.

Local Political Blog

LOCAL POLITICAL BLOG: A neighbor of mine recently uploaded a local political blog to keep up to date with current legislation and important events in Utah, specifically in the Orem District. Check it out here.

- Brad Daw

From the office of Senator Mike Lee: Tribute to Officer Jared Francom

FOR IMMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Sen. Lee Pays Tribute to Fallen Officer Francom on Senate Floor

Today, Senator Mike Lee spoke on the Senate floor about the tragic death of Utah policeman Jared Francom, who was shot in the line of duty on January 4th. A video of the speech is available here, and a transcript of Senator Lee’s remarks is below:

Mr. President, today I rise with a heavy heart to mourn the loss of Ogden police officer Jared Francom.

Earlier this month, on the evening of January 4th, 2012, Agent Francom was senselessly gunned down defending his fellow officers as they attempted to serve a search warrant in Ogden, Utah. Five other officers – Shawn Grogan, Kasey Burrell, Michael Rounkles, Nate Hutchinson, and Jason Venderwarf – were wounded in the gun battle.

A week later, a crowd of roughly 4000 family members, friends, and supporters, including more than a thousand uniformed officers, gathered at a public memorial for Jared to saygoodbye to one of America’s fallen heroes.

The sentiment from all that knew him was the same: Jared was a devoted family man, a dedicated father to his two young daughters, a fun loving brother and son to his family.

At the funeral, which I attended, I heard Jared’s brother Ben say he “taught people to care for each other and taught others to change the world like he was doing on the streets of Ogden.”

Commenting on the outpouring of support, Jared’s brother Travis said, “I know my brother would be proud, because we all are his family.”

Achieving a goal he’d set for himself as a young boy, Agent Francom became a member of the Ogden police force seven years ago and and was assigned to the Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force.

Jared’s sacrifice should be a reminder to us of the incredible risks our brave law enforcement officers all take to protect the people they serve. I have a deep and unwavering respect for the law enforcement community and, as a former Assistant U.S. Attorney, have seen up close how these men and women serve with honor, integrity, and dedication.

Jared Francom was no exception. He will be remembered for giving his life in service to the people and community he loved.

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