Summer Highlights

As September comes to a close, it's hard to believe that summer is already over.  We've been able to accomplish many things these past few months.  First off, our interim meetings at the Capitol have been very successful.  I feel that we have made great preparations for our upcoming 2013 Legislative Session that will begin in just 3 and a half short months.  You can find documentation of these interim meetings HERE.  I send these updates out each month to those on my email list.  If you aren't on my email list and would like to be, just leave a comment or send me an email with your email address and I would be happy to add you.  I hope you find these emails helpful and informative as constituents and, most importantly, voters.

I was so pleased to have been able to meet many more of you at our annual Taylorsville Dayzz celebration this year.  Thank you for taking the time to come and participate.  The food, booths, rides, entertainment, and fireworks were all fantastic.  This celebration really brings out that community feeling among all of us as neighbors and friends, so it was wonderful to have such a great turnout.  And of course, a special thanks to all who helped put this event together.  Your contributions helped make Taylorsville Dayzz a great success.

Here are some of the pictures we took at the event.  Can you spot yourself in the crowd?

Interim

We have already been picking up steam with our Interim session with once a month meetings to discuss important matters for the 2013 General Legislative Session.  It is exciting to be back at the capitol, even if for only a few hours a month.  It is a privilege to be able to represent you and your interests.

During our May meeting, we were able to meet in our committees to discuss more specific committee agendas.  In the Business and Labor Committee, we had several agenda items to discuss, including: liquor licenses for restaurants, cosmetic medical procedures, and reviewing current laws that will either need to be renewed or allowed to sunset.  In the Political Subdivisions Committee, we were able to listen to several presentations on such topics as Constable Amendments, the definition of "rural", and sovereign citizen liens.  These meetings turned out to be very productive and helped us to better understand the important issues for the upcoming session.

We also had another exciting event several weeks ago - the ceremonial bill signing of my fireworks bill from this past session!  I was able to invite my family and several key contributors to this bill to this special event where Governor Herbert officially signed the bill.  It was nice to be able to remember all of the hard work that went into this bill and be able to recognize those that helped the bill be a success.

 My family and other important contributors to the bill watch as the Governor officially signs the bill.

My family with the Governor.

I have really enjoyed getting to know many more of you over these past few months at our neighborhood caucus, county convention, and even at Taste of Kearns.  Thanks for being active in the political process. As always, please continue to send me emails with any comments or concerns you may have so I can best represent your interests.

Don't forget about Taylorsville Dayzz coming up June 28-30th!  There are a lot of exciting events planned.  Check out taylorsvilledayzz.com for more information.

Legislative "Batting Averages"

The Salt Lake Tribune wrote an article on Monday concerning the number of bills each legislator proposed vs. the number that they passed. Due to a lot of hard work from many different people, I was pleased to be able to be 10 for 10 this session - each bill I sponsored was able to be passed by the end of the session. To see the "batting averages" of the Legislators for the 2012 session, click here.

You can view any bills I or other Legislators introduced by using the search function at le.utah.gov. There are also options on the home page to view all of the bills passed over the session.

Discussing a bill on the House Floor:

Overview of the 2012 General Session

As you probably know, the 2012 General Legislative Session came to a conclusion on March 8th. There was a lot of hard work to do, but it was a very successful session. You can listen to committee meetings, look up what bills we passed, and a lot of other material from the session at le.utah.gov.

We will continue to meet every third Wednesday during the interim. This will help us to be prepared for the bills and other important topics coming up for the 2013 session. Please continue to contact me with any concerns you have at jdunnigan@le.utah.gov, visit my facebook page and leave a comment, or comment here.

I am looking forward to our annual Taylorsville Dayzz coming up June 28-30th! We have some great things planned and fun will be had by all. I hope to see many of you there. A big thank you to those who have already spent a number of hours preparing for this event.

Please enjoy some of these pictures of the 2012 session!

My granddaughter, Brielle, visits the capitol:

Looking down State St. from the Capitol:

One of the many meetings I had to discuss legislation:

This is when I was able to act as Speaker Pro-Tem while Speaker Lockhart had some other business to attend to:

Many people come to visit outside of the House Floor:

Talking with another Legislator and a constituent after Floor Time:

The view outside the House Floor:

2012 Session is Halfway Over Today

Today marks day 22 out of 45 for our session. We have been able to accomplish much in this short time period. I have had several successful bills go through the legislative process - you can view the status of my bills here as well as their content if you click through the links. Many of you will especially appreciate House Bill 33, which limits the number of hours and days that fireworks can be set off so as not to disturb neighbors, animals, etc. who were being adversely affected by late night fireworks. However, the approved aerial fireworks can still be enjoyed by all during the approved hours (with extension hours for holidays).

Thanks to all of those who participated in our Taylorsville town meeting last week. It is very helpful to be able to hear open discussion on the hot issues this session so I can best represent your opinions in the Legislature. For those who may have missed this meeting, you can come to our Kearns meeting this Wednesday at 7 pm at the Kearns Library.

Thank you again for your continued support. Many of you have sent emails about the issues or sent in your surveys and they have been very helpful.

Hope to see you on Wednesday! Don't forget to send in your surveys if you haven't yet done so.