2020 Utah Legislature - Week 1 Summary

The 2020 General Session of the Utah State Legislature began on Monday, January 27. Thank you so much for all of your support. It is truly an honor to represent the great residents of District 33. Just a few highlights from the week:

Budget

This first week, the legislature spent much of its time going over the State's budget. Each legislator is on at least one appropriations subcommittee. I am currently the Chair of the Retirement and Independent Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees the State's retirement system, PEHP, etc.

For the last week, our committee has carefully scrutinized their existing budgets, reviewed previous appropriations and then will determine if the expenditures are achieving the desired outcomes. Of course, we are always looking for any potential savings. This budgeting process will continue throughout the session.

Here's a snapshot of the budget from last year's Session.

Special Events at the Capitol

First Week Highlights

There's not much "warming up" to the legislative session. Early in the week, voted on several bills, met up with constituents, had my beautiful wife pay a visit to the floor of the House, researched bills, listened to an awesome high school drum group, etc., etc.

So humbled to represent the great residents of District 33. Thank you for the honor!

State of the State

The State of the State was given by Governor Herbert on Wednesday. The legislature looks forward to working together with the Governor to help keep Utah a great place to live, work and raise a family.

Visits to the Capitol!

One of our State's treasures is the State Capitol building. And visiting during the legislative session is the best time of year to visit. Lots of action happening every day. I would love to give your family / school group / church group / etc. a behind-the-scenes tour of the State Capitol. Give me a call/email and we'll make it happen. This week it was students from the West Valley campus of American Preparatory Academy and Hillsdale Elementary. Thanks for. visiting!

Rep. Hall on Inside Utah Politics

Thanks to Glenn Mills for inviting me to appear on Inside Utah Politics. I was able to discuss a few of my bills I'm presenting this year. See here to watch the video.

Repeal of Tax Bill

Report to constituents: I voted NO on the tax reform bill during last month's legislative Special Session. And I voted to repeal when it came up Week 1 of the regular session.

In short, in my view, there were simply too many policy issues in the bill with which I disagreed. I applaud the Governor and legislative leadership for reconsidering this issue, and hearing the (loud) concerns that have been expressed.

But even more important, I want to express my sincere thanks for the dozens (hundreds?) of constituents that reached out to me regarding this issue. It was so heartening to see the civic engagement throughout our community and State (many of whom were from my legislative district!) regarding this issue. It quickly became very clear how the overwhelming majority of my constituents felt about the bill. During the time I’ve had the honor to represent District 33, I have tried to be exactly that, your REPRESENTATIVE. To represent YOUR voice at the state legislature. I represent YOU. Truly, thank you for your input.

See here to read more.

Rep. Hall's Legislation

I have several bills this session, here are a few:

HB84 - Traffic Code Amendments - I am the chief sponsor of this bill. On Thursday, this bill passed the House Transportation Committee. Off to the floor of the House!

As you all know, when a bus stops and its lights are flashing and the stop arm is out, other vehicles are supposed to stop. However, compliance with this law is not as high as it should be. Last year, a study was done and there were over 900 violations in a single day! This bill will increase the minimum fine for violations. The Granite School District asked me to sponsor this bill after experiencing way too many close calls.

See story here.

HB70 - Repeal of Single-Mark Straight Ticket Voting - I am a co-sponsor of this bill.

This bill would eliminate the box on the ballot that would allow a voter to vote for all candidates of a single party with one single notation. A voter could still vote for all candidates of their favorite political party, but they would need to go through each race on the ballot.

Town Hall Meetings!

We had our first Town Hall meeting on Saturday, February 1. Thanks to those who attended!. I have two more Town Hall meetings scheduled during the legislative session. All of the following Town Hall meetings will be at West Valley Library (2800 West 3650 South).

Saturday, February 8, 2019, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Thursday, February 20, 2019, 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Hope to see you there!

Please return your survey!

I have mailed a survey to constituents within District 33. The answers you provide to these survey questions are invaluable. Please, please, please fill it out and return! (Below is a photo of some of the paper surveys that have been returned!). I am very interested in your perspectives. Your comments and thoughts are greatly appreciated. You can also take the survey online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RepHall2020 if you prefer that method. Thank you so much!

Ways to Contact Representative Hall

I make a concerted effort to reach out to all of my constituents. For that reason, I use as many different forms of communication as possible. Most of you have received mail from me. I also have frequent town hall meetings (more on that above). You can follow me online at www.votecraighall.com. For even more frequent updates, you can follow me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/votecraighall and/or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/hcraighall. You are also welcome to call my cell phone anytime. (801) 573-1774. I will be in many meetings throughout the legislative session, so if I don't answer right away, feel free to leave me a message and I'll try to call back as soon as possible. I will also be sending out regular updates via email. Probably the quickest way to get ahold of me is by email. My legislative email address is chall@le.utah.gov.

Thanks for your support. Contact me anytime.

Read all previous email newsletters here: http://bit.ly/YJCYy1

Representative Craig Hall

Legislative email: chall@le.utah.gov
Personal email: hcraighall@yahoo.com
Website: www.votecraighall.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/votecraighall
Twitter: www.twitter.com/hcraighall
Cell phone: (801) 573-1774