Kory Holdaway

2009-03-09T16:03:00.000-07:00

The end is coming. I see a light at the end of the tunnel. I’m not sure if I am going to be run over or if I’m running from the light. It has been much different session because of all the challenges to the budget, yet at the end of the day the business of the people will be finished for another year. We’ve debated bills related to texting, bills related to fishing, and bills related to cigarettes and tobacco. We will be debating bills related to liquor. With all of these bills related to vices I am worried to what is going to happen next.
For the first time since I’ve been elected, we have funded a significant number of ongoing programs with one-time money called the federal stimulus package. (good thing or bad thing?) For the sake of our children and our children’s children I hope that this isn’t a practice we continue in future years.
The budget has been cut roughly 10% from last years like many of our personal budgets that we’re dealing with. The challenge has been identifying essential services that government should provide versus services that have made their way into the budget over the years that are nonessential. Some of the balancing that has taken place will be on the backs of public employees with reduced benefits and asking them to do more for less. I intended this to be an upbeat feel-good sort of blog, however in reflecting on where our economy is sometimes it’s hard to find the silver lining in the dark clouds. I’m sure that as we work together as citizens of our great state, that silver lining will be found.

2009-02-23T15:47:00.000-08:00

Nearly two weeks have passed since my last blog entry, and things up on the hill are only getting busier. The good news is we are halfway done, and the bad news is there is still a lot of work to do. I met with the Executive Appropriations on Friday evening to discuss the 2010 budget for Higher Education. The metaphor that has been used up on the Hill most often these past few weeks is that we need to “cut the fat” on most program budgets. Though, as we progress into the 2010 fiscal year, we are hearing more and more on how we need to try to prevent cutting into the muscle of these programs, or worse still, into the bone. Resources are scarce and we are scurrying to come up with extra revenues. Let us hope for the best.
The House recently passed HB140 by a vote of 48-27, which would increase fees on motor vehicles by $2. This bill would go towards protecting Highway Patrol troopers who would otherwise be victims of severe budget cuts. There is a second bill on cigarette tax that is currently being considered as well.
There has been enormous uproar on HB187 on the Recreational Use of Public Waters that flow over privately owned beds. I have been bombarded with emails against this bill, and a huge crowd of avid fly fishers showed up in waders with their fly rods to protest the bill, which solidified my opposition to the bill.
I encourage any ideas or comments you may have. Please post below.

2009-02-12T07:35:00.000-08:00

Well it has been quite some time since I've made a blog entry. It's much like my attempts to write in a journal, I have high hopes yet I'm easily distracted or delayed. Enough of that....

The legislative session has started and we are well on our way into many weighty discussions. It strikes me each session the privilege it is to be allowed the honor to represent neighbors and friends on issues that will affect their daily life. I'm reminded of the honor and responsibility each day as I look to the front of the chamber and read the term "Vox Populi" or Voice of the People just below the Speaker's dais. Thank you for this opportunity.

The word of the session is Budget.... Many of the discussions we are having in the halls and in the meetings I attend are centered around the budget. We have some serious challenges related to the budget shortfall. I'm working to try and help the members of the legislature more fully recognize the relationship between our economic viability and the investment we need to continue to make with regard to education funding. It's my feeling that unlike any other expenditure we make in the budget, the money we spend for education provides the greatest return on investment. There have been independent studies done that show for every dollar we spend on Higher Education there is a $7.oo dollar return. That return comes in the form of higher wages and greater opportunities for those that are trained. Utah has always been recognized as a state that values education; however, over the past few years our passion among our young people has not been as strong. There are fewer people graduating from our institutions of higher education. In my opinion the need for meaningful additional training for our citizens cannot be over stated. The strength of our country is in a educated and motivated work force. We need to keep our young people focused on those benefits and provide those opportunities.

Hopefully it won't be as long before my next post. Let me know what you think.....

2008-12-22T05:17:00.000-08:00

The Holiday season is in full swing and will soon be another memory many of us look fondly back on. My hope for this season is that we may be found with the abilities to overcome the challenges in the future. I have great faith as each of us take individual responsibility for the decisions we make and work to improve the situations we find ourselves in then the blessings of prosperity will return or continue to be realized in our individual lives.

As this year draws to an end I am grateful for my family and the strength and support each of them are in my life. I'm grateful for 2 sweet granddaughters that love unconditionally. I'm grateful for a job that I love and the chance to interact with the youth of the future. I'm grateful for and humbled by the responsibility to serve in the Utah Legislature. I'm grateful for good health for myself and members of my family.

Our country today has many areas that we as citizens need to evaluate and consider changing, however the rights and freedoms that we enjoy are not areas we should compromise. My hope going into 2009 is that we might be a little more caring, a little more accepting and a little more conscious of those around us. Lets all take on the opportunity to pledge greater commitment to those important in our lives and continue to bless our great state and the country we live in with the service we are able to provide.

May God Bless our efforts to this end, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Legislative Ethics Reform

2008-10-28T20:04:00.000-07:00

The following pledge represents part of the commitment that I feel necessary to work towards as I represent the constitutents of House District 34. Additionally I think we need to put in place some type of campaign finance limits. The way money is finding its way into the political process needs to be evaluated and in my opinion needs to be limited.

Pledge for
Legislative Ethics Reform
May it be publicly known by the voters in the State of Utah that the candidate or legislator whose
signature appears on this page does hereby pledge and vow to actively support and work for the
passage of legislation during the 58th Session of the Utah State Legislature, in the year 2009, that
seeks reform in the areas listed below, which, upon passage, will provide the citizens of the State of
Utah a more open, honest, ethical and transparent government:
1. Require full disclosure of any and all gifts and meals, (not including those provided
to the entire legislative body), by both the recipient legislator and the provider of the
gift/meal when that provider is a registered lobbyist, PAC, or acting on behalf of a
company or corporation.
2. Prohibit legislators or campaign committees from using campaign contributions for
anything other than “legitimate” (i.e.: directly related to their campaign for election to
public office) campaign expenditures, or for the execution of duties directly related to
their public office.
3. Require that unexpended campaign funds, upon defeat or retirement from the office in
which the legislator served while generating the funds, be donated to a registered public
charity or political party, or transferred to the School Trust Land Permanent Fund.
4. Establish appropriate sanctions for legislators and others who fail to comply with the
requirements listed above.
5. Encourage transparency by providing sanctions for candidates, legislators, lobbyists,
PACs, PICs and corporations who fail to file timely and accurate reports.

700 Billion Dollar Bailout???

2008-10-06T17:31:00.000-07:00

Things need to change in our society. We as citizens cannot afford to continue to implement policies that take away individual responsibility. I am very frustrated with the need for government intervention related to the economy. I have provided a very interesting you tube video that highlights some changes that our government made in the past that now we are trying to fix with the 700 billion dollar bailout. There is fault in many different areas related to the downturn in our economy and redistributing wealth is not something that I think would be wise. The over site talked about by some is necessary however the individual responsibility related to living beyond ones means is as much a part of the problem and we all need to look in the mirror so far as this is concerned before the necessary changes occur. Now that the bill has passed the burden of paying for this will fall to each of us because of the failed polices of the past. Lets together recognize the real changes that are necessary and pull up the boot straps and get it done. Please watch the attached video to get the real message related to problems we need to solve.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxgSubmiGt8

Special Session

2008-09-27T04:14:00.000-07:00

The legislature just finished the special session and cut budgets by 272 million dollars. Do I agree with all the cuts..... no. I felt we should have included public education in some of the cuts, given the fact we have funded them so favorably the past couple of years. We have new education programs due to come on line over the course of the next year and I question the wisdom of that approach. The money we appropriated during the general session of 2008 should have been reexamined in its entirety without the provision of holding any agency in state government harmless. Should we have been allowed to do this I am sure there would have been some improvement in the end product.

"Did we balance the budget? "

Yes, however going forward I hope the fences that are constructed around some programs will be lowered. For those of you that think I have lost my mind about not holding public education harmless I would remind you my day job is in the public education world. I do recognize the challenges of being the lowest funded public education program in the nation. At the same time public education should have participated to some degree in the budget discussion. There were many in the education community that would have been willing to reduce their budget to minimize the hardship in other areas of government. Some of the budget reductions such as the one time money for performance pay, the new on going funding for a Pre Kindergarten computer program. These are just a couple of examles of adjustments that could have been made. Largely I view educaton, both K-12 and Higher Education, not as a government expenditures but as investments in our economy however sometimes you need to adjust your investments when hard times come around.

East West Traffic Congestion

2008-09-17T20:02:00.000-07:00

Today during our interim meetings the Department of Transportation gave a presentation dealing with East West traffic flows in Salt Lake County and some ideas to reduce the gridlock. One of the ideas was to create unbalanced and reversible lanes during peek traffic times. I think the idea is a great idea as it increases capacity on our roads going in certain directions when we need increased traffic flow. There was also some talk about the West side Belt Route and creating an interchange at 5400 South near the Taylorsville City Hall. I am less enthused about this proposal but am willing to listen to the proposal and weigh it based upon sound data. I would be interested in hearing from you all about the proposal, particularly related to the unbalanced and reversible lanes.

A New School Year Started...

2008-08-30T18:46:00.000-07:00

The beginning of a new school year is upon us and the excitement for all students is fun to observe. I'm inspired by the hope for the future that many students have as they realize this may be their last year in school. I particularly enjoy seeing the light that occurrs as young people begin to understand the choices they make affect their future. As I witness the adversity that some students must overcome and the way they overcome and compensate for this adversity I never fail to be stunned. The investment we as citizens make in our children cannot be over stated. We must continue to offer the necessary support for our children while at the same time expect and demand the best from them and ourselves. The strength of our nation is dependent upon the next generation, my hope is that we all see the responsibility we have for our future.

The Spirit of the Olympics

2008-08-21T20:35:00.000-07:00

Every two years we have the chance to enjoy the Olympics, alternating between the summer and the winter. I have particularly enjoyed the performances of this Olympics. To see the many individual performances of world class athletes, the gold medals being won, world records being broken, the performance of our swim team, the women's gymnastic team, the beach volleyball energy, the athletes of our track and field team and the push for gold by our basketball and volleyball teams creates a sense of patriotism. I love to watch the response of these men and women as our national anthem is played and the red white and blue are lifted to the sky above them to celebrate their individual and team performances.

Athletic competition between nations and individuals presents a stage for sportmanship and blurs the boundaries that sometimes affect our judgement. I love the spirit of the Olympics and am grateful for those men and women that prepare themselves for this world stage.

Campaign Season

2008-08-21T17:43:00.000-07:00

Campaign Season will soon be in full throttle, the mailers, the phone calls the door hangers and the cottage meetings. It's always a challenge to get your message out to those that you hope will elect you. Running a campaign is much like an extended job interview, you have the chance to respond to many different constitutents. I generally enjoy the interaction and the feed back, to be challenged on issues and to defend your position is always useful and makes you a better candidate for election. I look forward to the next couple of months and hopefully will have a chance to visit with many from my area.

Where are the Ethics with Politicians???

2008-07-29T23:49:00.000-07:00

Tonight on the news it was reported that a United States Senator was charged with 7 felony counts of accepting money and services that were inappropriate for his office. I believe in the American system of justice, however; I also feel those in public office have a responsibility to maintain the trust and honor granted by their constituents.

The public perception of a politician is not favorable and is it any wonder why? We, who hold ourselves out as leaders, have a responsibility to live by a higher standard of ethics. When those in public service falter and engage in unethical behavior, a broad brush is used to paint each of us with the stain of unethical behavior.

The news is replete with stories about politicians that have made choices that go counter to the trust granted by those that elect them. These stories include any number of crimes. Utah is not immune from these types of challenges. We who ask for the public trust should recognize the responsibility we have to avoid all semblance of impropriety. When compared with the total number of people providing public service the number that engages in unethical behavior is quite small yet the public perception is still cast on all politicians.

An excellent blog was written by Representative Urquart related to the budget and votes cast in the legislature. He opines on the need to bring greater light on these issues. I share that feeling and would also like to see greater light on issues related to lobbyists and the challenges related to gifts and contributions. There are many lobbyists and legislators that feel reporting all gifts and contributions would help improve public trust and policy. There are also many that feel there should be no gifts allowed by lobbyists. At a minimum, the light of public scrutiny should be allowed and pubic reporting should be a requirement. I hope as the next legislative session approaches greater efforts will be made to restore the public perception of a politician.

Big Tent of the Republican Party???

2008-07-25T18:33:00.000-07:00

Is it a big tent or do I fool myself by thinking that. I have always been a Republican and am generally proud to say that, although at times I wonder if the size of the tent is getting smaller and more narrow. Is the Republican party the party of smaller government and big ideas or are we the party of localized power and protecting our base?

We as a party have some areas that we can improve in and I hope we begin to better recognize that. If you have ideas I would love to hear those through your comments.

What to do about "No Child Left Behind?"

2008-07-23T13:56:00.000-07:00

"No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) a phrase those involved in education look upon with either hope or concern. The hope comes from the desire to see all children reach their full potential. The concern stems from the way the federal government has implemented this program. Education has always been looked upon as a state responsibility; however, with the passage of NCLB a number of years ago there has been a dramatic shift in who educators are reacting to. The federal government has replaced the states and parents with regard to accountability. Some say this is good for the system, as an educator and legislator I'm not sure what planet these people come from. I will acknowledge there have been some bright spots related to NCLB, that being the illumination of poor performance for some students within the education system and the need to provide attention to those students. Where I take exception to NCLB is the top down management and the punitive nature of that management. It needs to be re-evaluated before it is reauthorized by the federal government.

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) has been on the cutting edge of what improvements are necessary to the existing law. This week I will be a member of a new task force to make recommendations of how we can improve the existing statute. I would hope that if you have feed back you would email those issues to me so that I might be able to use that feedback in the discussion. This meeting will be one of others that will be discussing this issue and I look forward to a healthy debate.

Cell Phones and Texting While Driving

2008-07-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

I am getting sick and tired of the individuals that continue to put others at jeopardy by insisting on using their phones while driving. I understand the need to stay connected; however, there is a time and place for that connectivity. Texting while driving is insane and should be against the law period!

Using a cell phone to talk while driving should be avoided except in extreme circumstances. As I was driving down the freeway the other day I took notice again on how many individuals were using a cell phone not to mention the hands free users. I was surprised by the number I observed.

There are studies that show using a cell phone while driving is similar to driving while intoxicated. We would never knowingly allow someone that was drunk behind a steering wheel, why do we allow those that are driving to operate a cell phone?

No Child Left Behind visited by NCSL

2008-07-17T20:33:00.000-07:00

I'm preparing for the annual meeting for the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). Next week I've been asked to participate with the education committee to provide feed back to the McCain and Obama education advisors. This opportunity comes as a result of my involvement in the NCSL task force dealing with "No Child Left Behind." A new task force has been formed by NCSL to address the role the federal govenment should have in public education. Some feel the federal govenment should not be involved in what is a state responsibility. In large part I share this sentiment and will work to make sure the constitutional responsibilities the states have established will be respected.

Higher Education Task Force

2008-07-16T09:13:00.000-07:00

The task force for higher ed governance met yesterday and discussed the challenges related to career and technical education governance. A proposal dealing with career and technical education was presented to the committee. The proposal is an attempt to elevate the role of career and technical education in the state system of higher education for Utah. Increasing the relevance with the governing board for higher education, that being the Board of Regents.

In the proposal the Utah College of Applied Technology (UCAT) governance has been adjusted to include the career and technical education classes that are taught in our traditional higher education intuitions. This adjustment puts under one board, the Career and Technical Education Board, all subjects dealing with career and technical education. The board would be responsible for the promotion of classes taught within the current UCAT system along with the classes taught in our traditional higher education institutions. This will allow for improved efficiencies and a better product for citizens of the state. The role and mission of UCAT when it was created was to provide responsive and short term training for business, so that individuals could get the training necessary for employment and then move into the work force. This includes an open entry, open exit time table for training rather then the traditional semester schedule. This role and mission will not change for either UCAT or for other institutions. In fact I see the open entry, open exit class schedule being expanded. In addition the proposal puts in statute a greater degree of accountability with regard to the role and mission. It also increases the input from Workforce Sevices and the Governers Office of Economic Development.

It will be interesting to see the type of response the higher education community offers as we debate this proposal.

Time and Perspective

2008-07-15T14:29:00.000-07:00

Today I was asked how much time serving in the legislature takes. As I thought about this question I also reflected on a conversation I had with my wife a couple of days ago. The conversation dealt with having ones priorities in the right order and the proper perspective. As with any type of activity serving in the legislature can take as much time as you allow it to consume. I have found that as I've served, the demands for your time increase. I have found myself wondering at different times how those with more responsibility manage there time and priorities. Serving in the legislature has been and continues to be one of the great blessings in my life and I believe in the life of my family, however; there is a cost. When the cost of service out weighs the benefits then it is time to reevaluate our choices. I am grateful for the support and understanding my family have with me as I try to have the proper perspective and the gentle reminders they offer when I need to regain my balance.

First Attempt at Blogging in Cyber Space

2008-07-11T16:26:00.000-07:00

I've decided to make an attempt to keep a blog. Apparently this has become the new "thing" and it seems like a great way to tell a little bit about myself. I am currently serving in the Utah State Legislature and liked the idea of using a blog to keep my constinutents in the know.