As a candidate
for the Utah House of Representatives, District 30, West Valley City residents
can vote for someone that is not an incumbent but has experience and has
remained an advocate even when not in office.
The end of
2010, when our current state representative stepped down, at the request of the
governor, to be the Executive Director of the Office of Planning and Budget for
the State of Utah, I ran and won the race to fill his term. I had the
opportunity to serve in the Utah House of Representatives for four years,
2011-2012, and later in 2015-2016.
During that
time, I had a reputation of being willing to speak up and to fight for and vote
for what I believed was right, no matter the party or the opposition. I also
had the reputation of reading through all the bills, and not be afraid to amend
or vote against any bill that was not ready.
In 2013 and
2014, I quickly learned people in my area would still contact me for advice and
help. That also happened after 2016. Just because I was not in office, I did
not quit helping others.
For example, in
2017 I found our neighborhood watch chair was stepping down and the city was
going to close our group down and take down the signs in the neighborhood. I
found out what needed to be done to keep group running and became the chair.
In 2019, the
legislature proposed some tax reform measures that would have added new taxes
and increased others. I helped fight those during the legislative session. I
later attended the neighborhood meetings they had though out the state, where
the legislature promoted the changes, and I felt they were not listening to the
people who opposed them. When a special session was announced to be in December
to pass many of the changes, I read though the lengthy bill, and felt it was
wrong. It would raise the food sales tax, fuel taxes, add service taxes, and
other tax changes. I had the opportunity to see both the sponsor of the bill
and the governor the week before the special session. I told them my concerns.
They were not going to budge.
When the
legislature passed the bill, I noticed the house and the senate did not have
the required 2/3 votes for the bill to be immediately effective, which meant it
would not take effect for at least 60 days. It also meant the bill was subject
to referendum, which is a very difficult process of stopping a bill and putting
it on the ballot for the voters to approve or reject the proposed law.
I called my
conservative and liberal friends, and they were all opposed to the new tax
reform bill that had passed. I knew quite a bit about referendum petitions, as
I had tried to help a group in 2015 wanting to block moving the prison from
Draper. In 2016 I ran a bill to make the process more fair, but the bill was
voted down.
So, in December
of 2019, I printed out the referendum petition application and found four
others that would help and sign their names as sponsors. In just a few days we
had submitted the application and started. Working with voters throughout the
state, both liberal, conservative, and everything in between, and as
volunteers, we were able to gather over 170,000 signatures in 29 counties,
exceeding the 116,000 required signatures in 15 counties. Many of you signed
the petition at grocery stores. Because of the success of our team, the
Legislature and the Governor repealed 2019 SB 2001, instead of facing the
backlash of the voters that fall.
“I believe we
must stand up and be heard or watch our constitutionally protected rights
disappear. We can’t continue to let government take over our lives.”
That was the
reason I ran for office in 2011 and still is today.
Here are some
of the issues I will fight for you if I am elected again to House District 30:
Put more money
in classrooms by reducing the cost of school buildings and reducing the amount
of money leaving the Weighted Pupil Unit.
Defend the U.S.
Constitution by protecting the rights of Utah and the people from overreaching federal
and state interference.
Grow the
economy by reducing burdensome regulations on businesses.
I scheduled 15
public town hall meetings this year to learn what issues are important to you.
I learn and I listen. Find one at fredcox4utah.com. Vote for someone that
already is an advocate.
Fred C. Cox is
running for the Utah House of Representatives, District 30
