As a part of our advocacy efforts, our 501(c)4 arm -- Utah Cultural Advocacy Alliance -- tracked which elected officials voted “yes” on bills UCA deemed beneficial to the arts and humanities in our community. As a result, we created our very own, first ever, House and Senate Report Card that gives letter grades to Utah’s elected officials based on how well their legislative votes are advancing the needs and interests of the cultural community. Grades are listed below.

Grading is based on two parts:

  1. the elected official’s membership status in the Utah Cultural Caucus and,
  2. whether or not elected officials voted yes on bills UCA deemed to be beneficial to Utah’s arts, humanities and culture sectors.

Extra credit opportunities were included which means it’s possible to be an overachiever and score above 100%. The grading system is as follows:

  • Yes on Bills +3 Points
  • No on Bills +0 Points
  • Absent for Voting +1 Point
  • Member of the Cultural Caucus +5 Points
  • Extra Credit Opportunities
    • Sponsored a cultural appropriation +5 Points
    • Sponsored a POPS/ISEE appropriation +5 Points
    • Cultural Caucus Chair for their Party/Chamber +10 Points
  • Total out of 26 Points

There were seven bills in the 2017 General Session that were supported by the Utah Cultural Advocacy Alliance. Each elected official that voted yes on these bills accrued points that go toward their final grade. Below is a brief description of each bill and why they were endorsed by UCAA. 

Grades in spreadsheet form (shows each vote and their overall percentage grade) or scroll down to see legislators sorted by letter grade. 

HB0211: STATE WORK OF ART

Chief Sponsor: Rebecca P. Edwards    
Senate Sponsor: Peter C. Knudson

SB171: UTAH'S STATE WORKS OF ART DESIGNATION 

Chief Sponsor: David P. Hinkins   
House Sponsor: Christine F. Watkins

Together, these two bills designate the Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson as the Utah state work of land art AND Native American Rock art as the state works of art. UCAA supported both of these bills because they add the first items of cultural import onto the Utah state symbols list. By including them, it sends a message that Utah cares about our cultural heritage.

HB0188: LOCAL HISTORIC DISTRICT AMENDMENTS 

Chief Sponsor: Brad R. Wilson   
Senate Sponsor: J. Stuart Adams

UCAA supported this bill because it eases regulations from the year prior which originally made it harder to create historic districts in Utah.

HB0069: CAPITAL FACILITIES REVISIONS

Chief Sponsor: Rebecca P. Edwards
Senate Sponsor: Jerry W. Stevenson

UCAA supported this bill because it streamlines government by ending a procedure that the legislature wasn’t utilizing in the appropriations process.

HCR004: CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING 50 YEARS OF PUBLIC TELEVISION

Chief Sponsor: V. Lowry Snow     
Senate Sponsor: Todd Weiler

The Utah Cultural Advocacy Alliance supports public television, especially at a time like this when public broadcasting is under attack at a federal level. This resolution in the Utah Legislature is beneficial to our cultural community. Fun Fact: The inventor of the television, Philo T. Farnsworth, was born right here in Utah. 

HCR002: CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE UNITED STATES AND UTAH'S PARTICIPATION IN WORLD WAR I

Chief Sponsor: Stephen G. Handy     
Senate Sponsor: Jerry W. Stevenson

History matters and UCAA recognizes that. This bill and the money attached to it helps educate Utahns on their history.

SB137: STATE AUDITOR FISCAL AUDITING AND REPORTING AMENDMENTS

Chief Sponsor: Curtis S. Bramble  
House Sponsor: Steve Eliason

UCAA supported this because it eases reporting regulations and requirements attached to nonprofits.

 

A+

HOUSE

Patrice M. Arent (D)

Stewart Barlow (R)

Joel K. Briscoe (D)

Walt Brooks (R)

Rebecca Chavez-Houck (D)

Scott H. Chew (R)

LaVar Christensen (R)

Brad M. Daw (R)

Rebecca P. Edwards (R)

Steve Eliason (R)

Adam Gardiner (R)

Francis D. Gibson (R)

Craig Hall (R)

Lynn N. Hemingway (D)

Sandra Hollins (D)

Brian S. King (D)

Karen Kwan (R)

Kelly B. Miles (R)

Carol Spackman Moss (D)

Merrill F. Nelson (R)

Lee B.Perry (R)

Jeremy A. Peterson (R)

Val L. Peterson (R)

Dixon M. Pitcher (R)

Marie H. Poulson (D)

Edward H. Redd (R)

Angela Romero (D)

Scott D. Sandall (R)

Robert M. Spendlove (R)

Christine Watkins (R)

R. Curt Webb (R)

Elizabeth Weight (D)

John R. Westwood (R)

Mark A. Wheatley (D)

Brad R. Wilson (R)

Mike Winder (R)

SENATE

J. Stuart Adams (R)

Jacob L. Anderegg (R)

Curtis S. Bramble (R)

D. Gregg Buxton (R)

Jim Dabakis (D)

Gene Davis (D)

Luz Escamilla (D)

Wayne A. Harper (R)

Deidre M. Henderson (R)

Lyle W. Hillyard (R)

Don L. Ipson (R)

Jani Iwamoto (D)

Karen Mayne (D)

Ann Millner (R)

Brian E. Shiozawa (R)

Jerry W. Stevenson (R)

Daniel Thatcher (R)

Evan J. Vickers (R)

Todd Weiler (R)

 

A

HOUSE

Marc K. Roberts (R)

 

A-

HOUSE

Stephen G. Handy (R)

Bradley G. Last (R)

Val K. Potter (R)

Douglas V. Sagers (R)

V. Lowry Snow (R)

Keven J. Stratton (R)

SENATE

Ralph Okerlund (R)

Howard A. Stephenson (R)

 

B+

HOUSE

Kay J. Christofferson (R)

Kim Coleman (R)

Bruce R. Cutler (R)

Gage Froerer (R)

Timothy D. Hawkers (R)

A. Cory Maloy (R)

Derrin Owens (R)

Susan Pulsipher (R)

Logan Wilde (R)

SENATE

Margaret Dayton (R)

David P. Hinkins (R) 

 

B

HOUSE

Michael E. Noel (R)

SENATE

Lincoln Fillmore (R)

Daniel Hemmert (R)

Peter C. Knudson (R)

Kevin V. Van Tassell (R)

 

B-

HOUSE

Carl R. Albrecht (R)

James A Dunnigan (R)

Ken Ivory (R)

Dean Sanpei (R)

Raymond P. Ward (R)

 

C+

HOUSE

Eric K. Hutchings (R)

Jon E. Stanard (R)

Norman K. Thurston

 

C

HOUSE

Susan Duckworth (D)

Paul Ray (R)

Mike Schultz (R)

SENATE

Allen M. Christensen (R)

 

C-

 

D+

HOUSE
Brian M. Greene (R)

Keith Grover (R)

Michael S. Kennedy (R)

Mike K. McKell (R)

Jefferson Moss (R)

 

 

D

HOUSE
Gregory H. Hughes (R)

 

D-

HOUSE

Karianne Lisonbee (R)

 

F

HOUSE

Justin L. Fawson (R)

John Knotwell (R)

Daniel McCay (R)

Tim Quinn (R)