There was some strange rule that didn't allow people to use laptops at the convention, so I wasn't able to take notes for a blog. They said that it may be possible to hack the real-time electronic voting, so laptops were not allowed.

I took this photo from the stage after I seconded the nomination of my friend Rick Votaw for State Party Vice Chair. Rick didn't win, but came in 2nd. I told him afterward that I hope my endorsement didn't harm him too much.

This is another photo from the stage that shows the attendance of the state delegates.

Here is one more photo of…

I got permission fro Keri Witte to post her recent email about the State Central Committee and Convention percentage history. This is a link to her blog site:http://keriwitte.wordpress.com/2013/05/15/special-scc-meeting-called-for-re-vote-on-convention-threshold-issue/

Hello fellow Utah County delegates --



In an ongoing effort to help us all stay informed, I am sending you a quick note to let you know that the State Central Committee (the governing and policy-making body of the State Republican Party) has been called into a Special Meeting this Saturday morning immediately before the State Convention; the SCC is being asked to re-vote on the question of raising the…

May 15, 2013

These are my notes from Legislative Interim Meetings held on May 15th, 2013. The legislature holds interim meetings 1 day each month when the Legislature is not in Session.

Conservative Caucus Meeting

Chris Martenson is an economist and spoke to the Conservative Caucus meeting.

I tweeted a some of his slides, here are links:

Money is a claim on goods and services; claim on wealth; debt is a claim on money

Money is a trust and a bond we have with one another

Money is loaned…

Robert,



It was great to visit with you on Saturday at the Utah County Republican Party Convention. I appreciate your questions on these specific bills. I am going through my notes and will tell as much as I can about them



HB56 Behavioral Health Care Workforce  Amendments: (My vote: YES; 68-0) HB56m, permits licensed mental health therapists and substance use disorder counselors to offer therapy remotely via Internet, telephone, or other electronic means under existing authority of the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing. I think that this should be an option that works in some cases. It allows for people to interact with a medical professional using teleconferencing which saves time, money, and reduces pollutions.



HB272 Traffic Signal Amendments: (My vote: YES; 72-1) Signs for left on red arrow after stop onto diverging diamond interchanges. Because of the new type of intersections, especially in our area, this allows cars to turn left on…

http://utahcountygop.org/2013/05/04/convention-election-results/

I take the responsibility of representing those that elect me very seriously. I stay in regular contact with the party leadership, state and county delegates, and voters in my area…

RE: Re-elect Dave Lifferth to GOP State Central Committee





I hope that you would consider me as one of the four State Central Committee representatives from Senate District 11 and 13 in Utah County. You, along with the other Utah County Delegates elected me two years ago. I appreciate the trust that you showed in me and I hope that I have represented you well.  Let me give you some important reasons why I hope that you would consider me for one of your four votes that you will cast for State Central Committee members on May 4th at Timpview High School.



1) I  attended every State Central Committee since you and the other Utah County Delegates elected me 2 years ago. There are only 4 State Central Committee members (from 22 total) from Utah County that had 100% attendance over the past two years. This dedication took a great deal of commitment and sacrifice. These State Central Committee Meetings are time…

I got permission to post this discussion of states with strict gun laws and the results.

STUDY: States With Loose Gun Laws Have Higher Rates Of Gun Violence



By Zack Beauchamp on Apr 3, 2013 at 9:00 am



The National Rifle Association (NRA) and its allies in Congress frequently claim that gun violence is highest in places with the toughest crime laws. But a new study from the Center for American Progress (CAP) suggests something closer to the opposite is true - the states with laxer gun laws tend to be the ones contributing the highest shares of national gun deaths and injuries.



The authors of the report, called "America Under The Gun," developed a list of ten indices of gun violence, ranging from gun homicide levels to firearm assaults to crime gun export rate (the number of guns sold in that state used in crimes around the country), and ranked each state from 1-50 along each index. They then took the average of each state's ranking to…

Tonight there was as meet the State Central Committee Candidate (SCC) event at Lehi Junior High School. It was for County Delegates from Senate District 13 and was moderated by Scott Bell, who is the Utah County Republican party treasurer. 

This will be the first time that SCC representatives from Utah county will be selected by Senate District and not by the county at large. When I was elected 2 years ago it was using the "beauty pageant" method. Basically we had a few meet the candidate events in different parts of the county and then we walked across the state at Maple Mountain High school…