Candidate Information Form: Utah House – District 63

Name: Donald K. Jarvis

Registered Party: Democrat

District: 63

Address: Box 7033, University Station, Provo UT 84602

Phone: 801-318-6274

Email: electdonjarvis@gmail.com

Website: http://www.donjarvis.org

Candidate Background Information

Occupation: Consultant on higher education

Education: Ph.D., Ohio State University, B.A. BYU

Prior Experience: Professor & administrator at BYU, consultant at UVU, mission president

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 ?
   
   First, I want to arrange adequate and sustainable funding for excellent public education K-12 and above. 
           Second, I will work to establish a blue-ribbon commission to recommend state-wide environmental and land-use policies and then work to implement feasible ones. This would help solve present and future issues of air quality, transportation, energy and housing development.
   
   
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
   
   Investing more in education, including the above important areas, should be done not by raising overall taxes, but by reassessing priorities, insuring tax fairness, and returning to more local control of public education.  Reassessing priorities may mean less money for soccer stadiums, delaying some other public works projects.  Tax fairness may mean fewer tax cuts for large corporations and the wealthiest taxpayers.  Local control means less micro-management from the legislature.  Our legislators tout their recent investments in education, but these have largely been for very specific, short-term programs like raises for certain math & science teachers.  This micro-management of local education from the legislature severely restricts local educators, who know local needs best.  We must return more control to local school districts for greater efficiency.  Local educators should be empowered to invest in local schools where they need it most and to reward teaching that results in value added.  Focusing on the quality of individual student learning, local educators should have the funding and authority to provide substantial incentives to attract, reward, and retain effective teachers.  We need long-term vision.
   
   - Energy resource development and clean air
   
   I will help establish a blue-ribbon commission to recommend state-wide environmental and land-use policy and then I will work to implement its feasible recommendations. 
           Utahns are only slowly becoming aware how bad our air has become. The American Lung Association recently ranked the Provo-Orem area as the 12th worst area in the USA in terms of short-term particle pollution.  Physicians tell us that breathing Wasatch Front air is like smoking 5 cigarettes a day, shortening our lives by roughly two years and causing 2000 premature deaths per year in Utah.  It is particularly dangerous for babies, being linked with several pediatric diseases.
           Most Utah air pollution is caused by poor traffic management and lack of public transport, but coal-fired power plants also contribute by spewing huge quantities of mercury, lead, and other harmful chemicals.  We should support Governor Huntsman's efforts to develop renewable energy such as solar, wind, and geothermal sources.  Development of these would not only clean our air but provide thousands of high-tech jobs.  A comprehensive land-use policy could help developers who want to move toward more sustainable development, reduce urban sprawl, provide more affordable housing, and promote better traffic management, including public transport.
   
   - Water development and conservation
   
   Utah is basically an arid state with a fast-growing population, so we must use our water more carefully.  Irrigation is increasing, now accounting for 81% of all water use, and consumption of municipal water per capita is also rising.  It is highly unlikely that we will find new sources or cost-effective ways to develop this scarce resource. This is another argument for establishing a blue-ribbon commission of the wisest, non-political, far-sighted experts to recommend state-wide environmental and land-use policy and then implement its recommendations.  There will be no easy answers, but some of them may include implementing market mechanisms to encourage voluntary conservation.  The Utah Foundation notes that rates for secondary water systems (not city culinary water) tend to be flat and do not encourage conservation. Where water supplies are becoming strained, this is an obvious place to implement pricing changes that will encourage more intelligent use.  Furthermore, citizens should be offered tax and other incentives to install efficient toilets and to use less water for irrigating residential landscaping.  Education campaigns can also increase voluntary conservation.
   
   - Better communication between elected officials and their constituents
   
   1.  Open up closed legislative caucuses.
   2.  Hold weekly district meetings with constituents during legislative sessions.
   3.  Show on the state legislative web site how legislators voted on all bills during a session.
   4.  Return to a two-party system, thus providing more discussion, citizen involvement and interest.  We voters can re-establish the two-party system by voting for individuals rather than straight party tickets. 
   5.  Implement ethical and campaign-finance reforms, which would also help re-establish  political balance.  At present Utah has no limits on how much lobbyists or special interest groups may spend to influence legislators.  One result is that 98% of campaign finance is provided by special interest groups. This gives influence to those special interests and frees most incumbents from the 'burden' of campaigning among their actual constituents and listening to real people's concerns.  But this 'burden' of campaigning is a huge benefit to us constituents, allowing us access to our legislators, input on policies, and forcing officials to listen.  I will support formation of an ethics advisory board with jurisdiction over the legislature, as is the case in 33 other states.  Why not Utah?
   
   
3. If the State had a revenue surplus of $100 million, how would you allocate the money? (Response should include $______________ for ________________________________.
   
   $60 million for K-12 education as weighted pupil units to give local educators maximum control;
   $15 million for higher education, targeting under-funded Utah Valley University;
   $7.5 million for mass transit, including more efficient busses;
   $7.5 million for environmental initiatives, including a commission to recommend and implement state-wide environmental and land-use policy;
   $5 million for CHIP to increase coverage of needy children;
   $4.95 million for Corrections system education and therapy programs to reduce recidivism;
   $500,000 for an ethics advisory board to recommend and implement changes in campaign finance and ethics reform for the legislature.
   
   This would be a nice sum, but because it cannot be assumed to be more than a single year's temporary surplus, it would have to be carefully allocated.  Of the many important areas needing more money, most would have to wait for sustainable funding.  However, good targets could include the above