Candidate Information Form: Utah House – District 58

Name: Steve Baugh

Registered Party: Democrat

District: 58

Address: 175 East 1200 North, Orem, 84057

Phone: 801-602-1681

Email: steve@baugh4utah.com

Website: www.baugh4utah.com

Candidate Background Information

Occupation: associate professor, McKay School of Education, Brigham Young University

Education: Ed. D., Educational Administration, Brigham Young University

Prior Experience: Superintendent, Alpine School District, 1988-2000

Questions

The League of Women Voters has made every effort to present accurately the candidates' responses as they were submitted.

1. If elected, what two things do you hope to accomplish as a member of the House of Representatives for the people of Utah ?
   
   I would fight for world-class education for all children through increased funding to recruit and retain qualified teachers, adequate funding for smaller class sizes, better equipped facilities, and sufficient resources for higher education.
   
   I would work to safeguard our families and neighborhoods through better ways to provide quality health care and affordable health insurance, safe and reliable transportation (including additional mass transit and commuter rail), adequate green space for parks and recreation and a clean environment, safe communities and crime prevention, and affordable housing.
   
   
2. How would you address the following issues? (Please answer each question in 200 words or less.)
   - Adequate funding for education, including funding for disadvantaged populations such as non-English-speakers and prison inmates
   
   In the past we spoke of the education funding "paradox" in Utah.  That is, we had the lowest funding per child, yet our level of tax support for education was one of the highest among the states.  In recent years this has changed.  Though we still have the lowest funding per child in the United States, our level of tax support has declined below the national average.  Furthermore, the portion of the state budget spent on public education has declined significantly.  We must increase funding for K-12 and higher education.  We do not need to raise taxes to do this but we do need to stop cutting taxes.  And we need to stop the decline in the percentage of the state budget devoted to education.  We need to make education the state's #1 priority and allocate funds proportionally.  The funds made available to education need to be targeted to core efforts such as increased salaries for teachers, class size reduction, and improving student achievement in reading and math through enhanced professional development for our teachers rather than for the "special interest" educational projects of some legislators. 
   
   - Energy resource development and clean air
   
   At the mouth of Spanish Fork canyon is an experiment in the creation of energy through wind power.  We need to study its effects and if positive, as we believe they will be, support further development of wind power.  We need to foster development of solar power as well.  Our dependency as a nation on foreign oil is well documented.  One possible solution, or partial solution, is the development of oil shale.  We need to do increased research in this area to see if it is cost effective and can be managed without undue hardship on the environment including our water resources.  Hastening the development of commuter rail and other mass transit opportunities will help dramatically improve the quality of our air.  This is absolutely critical for the health of all Utahns, but especially our children and the elderly.
   
   - Water development and conservation
   
   We must do both--find ways to develop our water resources and conserve the water resources we have.  Water development has played an important role in meeting Utah's ever
   growing water demands.  However, the traditional approach to simply
   build another dam, divert another stream, or drill another well is not
   sustainable.  While new water developments will be necessary, they must
   be carefully balanced against other alternatives before they are
   constructed.
   
   Water conservation is one way water suppliers can ensure the
   sustainability of their water supplies.  I support Utah's Water
   Conservation Plan Act (which requires communities of a certain size to
   prepare and update a water conservation plan regularly) and  I will work
   with the water community and cities to provide further
   incentives that promote conservation.  I will also carefully study barriers to water conservation and efficiency that
   exist in Utah's water law and work to change these where appropriate.
   
   Other alternatives that I believe can help meet future needs and should
   be considered include reuse of reclaimed wastewater, aquifer storage and
   recovery, and cooperative agreements between water systems within a
   region.  Through these and other measures, Utah's water managers will
   be better able to meet future demands while preserving the important
   functions water also plays in the environment.
   
   - Better communication between elected officials and their constituents
   
   Just this past week I was speaking with a city official, asking him what concerns he had with state government.  He said he had emailed and left phone messages with a legislator about an issue of importance to the city but had not heard back from the legislator.  Responding to an email or phone call seems like such a simple thing yet it was overlooked.  So, number one, I will respond to those who attempt to contact me.  I will listen and try to understand.  And I will try to be helpful if I can.
   
   Since education is the #1 priority of Utah's citizens, I will respond to invitations from teachers and principals, school board members, district office workers, PTA workers, and others in the education community to make visits, attend meetings, or other educational activities.  The same thing is true of other areas of importance such as health care, health insurance, transportation, and crime prevention.  I will be accessible.  I will listen, try to understand, and help where possible.  Periodic, regular surveys of the public to understand their concerns are very important means to better communication, as are periodic, regular newsletters addressing those concerns.  Use of websites with blogs provide another helpful means to communicate and are becoming increasingly important.
   
   
3. If the State had a revenue surplus of $100 million, how would you allocate the money? (Response should include $______________ for ________________________________.
   
   a. 25 million
   b. 25 million
   c. 5 million
   d. 10 million
   e. 20 million
   f. 15 million
   
   a. school districts experiencing rapid growth to help them adequately house their students and to districts to upgrade their existing buildings to meet current safety standards.
   b. school districts to build classrooms to house the new teachers and their students created when we reduce class size significantly.  For example, to reduce class size by 3 students in the 1st grades across Utah, it would take approximately 370 additional teachers and thus 370 new classrooms.
   c. school districts for the increased cost of gasoline and diesel fuel for its buses due to the rapid and unanticipated increase in fuel costs.
   d. school districts to provide upgraded electronic infrastructure and computers in order that schools can participate in the state's online testing program. 
   e. increased access to CHIP.  Thousands of our children do not have adequate health care.  This is wrong.
   f. transportation needs such as the completion of  roads between cities to provide an alternative to I-!5 and/or speeding the completion of commuter rail along the Wasatch Front.