End of 2022 Session, Caucus Night is Tuesday, and Ukraine

The final gavel is down and the 2022 Legislative Session is over.

Overall, I feel that the session turned out well and that we accomplished a lot of good things. Below are a few of the things that I feel best about from this year's session.

Support for our K-12 public school system.

We increased the Weighted Pupil Unit (the main funding increment for schools) by 6%.
We instituted a focused program on reading proficiency in Kindergarten through Third Grade.
We funded 4 professional days off per year for our teachers to get training and for class preparation time.

Support for the Disabled and Domestic Violence Shelters.

We were able to increases wages to the front-line workers who care for the disabled and put some money toward those who have been on the waiting list for services for many years.
We got some baseline state funding for our Domestic Violence Shelters.

We passed a $200 Million tax cut.

We decreased the income tax rate from 4.95% to 4.85%.
We added an earned income tax credit for lower-income working families.
We gave an increased exemption on Social Security income for low-to-middle income seniors.

We passed several bills to conserve water and the Great Salt Lake.

We made it possible that agricultural water users could let their water go into the Great Salt Lake without losing their water right.
We put $40 Million towards projects and studies that will get more water into the Great Salt Lake.
We moved towards having secondary water meters which is predicted to result in substantial water savings in urban areas.

Caucus Night is this Tuesday at 7:00 PM.

Please Come!

Caucus Night for the Republican Party is this Tuesday, March 8th at 7:00 PM. (but please arrive early to check in and chat with your neighbors.)

At these neighborhood meetings, State and County Delegates will be chosen who will then vote for the individuals who will be on the ballot in the Republican Primary election in June.

I will be running for re-election this year and I am hoping that we will get a strong slate of delegates that shares my same priorities of:

Supporting our school kids and their parents and teachers in our K-12 education system.
Maintaining a good environment for business so we have good jobs to support our families.
Continuing efforts to reduce counter-productive government regulations.
Trying to understand all sides of an issue when making hard policy decision.

Because of the changes from redistricting, the precinct boundaries are different so you will likely have a different precinct number than last time. Please follow this link to the Davis County Republican Party website, where you can enter your address and find out which precinct you are in and then find where your caucus location is. (Also listed in the table below).

Or if you have questions or are having trouble finding the right place, please reply to the email to let me know and I would be happy to help you find your right location.

If you have an interest in our political process and would like your voice to be heard a little louder, I hope you will come to caucus night and run to be a Republican State or County Delegate.

Please note that these are only for the Republican Caucuses. The Democratic party will be holding their caucuses later on March 22nd, and in Davis County they will be virtual over a zoom link. You can find that information here.

Stand with Ukraine

It has been difficult to watch Russia's horrible attack on Ukraine over these recent days. Over 1 million people have been driven out of their homes so far as Russia has invaded their cities and killed them and cut them off from food and power.

In the long term, I believe Ukraine and freedom can triumph. But for now, and maybe for a long time, it appears there will be intense suffering.

Imagine if every person in Salt Lake County was suddenly homeless and had to flee hundreds of miles away. That is about the number who have had to flee their homes so far.

If you are able to donate towards helping some of the refugees, here are links to some of our well-established charitable organizations.

UNICEF is delivering aid to children and families in Ukraine. Click here to donate.

International Rescue Committee is collecting donations to help Ukrainian refugees worldwide. Click here to donate.

If you would like to show your support in a small visual way, I have a bunch of Ukrainian Flag lapel pins. You are welcome to drop by and pick one up (954 East Millbrook Way) or I can bring one over to you.

Paid for by Ray Ward. Not produced or distributed at taxpayer expense.

Ray Ward Contact Information:

rayward@le.utah.gov

Mobile: (801) 440-8765

https://www.facebook.com/raywardutah/

Ray Ward was elected to the Utah House of Representatives in January of 2015. He has served 4 terms representing district 19.