Candidate Information Form: Utah House – District 66

Name: Debbie Swenson

Registered Party: Democrat

District: 66

Address: 16 W Apple Blossom Way, Salem, UT  84653

Phone: 801-423-1296

Email: contact@debbieswenson.com

Website: www.debbieswenson.com

Candidate Background Information

Occupation: Mother, Homemaker, Local School Board Member

Education: Brigham Young University,  B.S. Marriage, Family & Human Development

Prior Experience: Six years on Nebo School District Board of Education; Board of Directors for Utah School Boards Association; Past PTA Area President; Volunteer with United Way; Raised six children

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 ?
   
   1.  Ethics reform is my first goal. We need to restore integrity to the process and regain the confidence of the public. I have no conflicts of interest and no personal agendas. I would support a complete ban on gifts of any sort to lawmakers and their families; campaign finance reform; and the formation of an independent ethics commission to investigate conflicts of interest.
   2.  Education:  Work to restore Utah's commitment to our children.  Over the past 12 years the legislature has made some major changes in the way Utah funds education that have resulted in a reduction in the effort Utahns have previously given to our children.  If we had maintained the same commitment level as existed in 1996, we would have had over $600 million additional dollars last year in our education fund.
   
   
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
   
   While Utah may never be a leader in education funding, I believe that we already have the ability to adequately fund education but what we have lost is the commitment to do so.  The battle we are fighting today in education is as much philosophical as it is economical.  Do we value our children enough?  Do we see them as this state's greatest natural resource and that it's worth the investment to develop that resource? Do we believe passionately enough that an educated populace is worth the investment?  Do we believe that EVERY child should have the opportunity for a good education?  I don't believe that all of our current lawmakers believe this.  It's important to have a strong economy, but in the past few years whenever we have achieved that and had increased tax revenues, the legislature has cut taxes.  This latest single rate tax will tax the poor and middle class more, lower taxes for the rich and reduce available funding for education.  That is not the kind of policy that will lead to adequate education funding.
   
   - Energy resource development and clean air
   
   Our dependence on foreign oil has put us in a precarious situation with national security, our economy, and our environment..  If our elected representatives would have begun more actively pursuing clean, renewable sources of energy 10 years ago, we could very well be energy independent today.  Surely if we could use American ingenuity and determination to reach the moon in 10 years, we could solve our energy crisis in that amount of time.  Just because something may seem too difficult or too expensive it doesn't mean that it is unattainable.  "Some men see things as they are and ask why.  Others dream things than never were and ask why not." (George Bernard Shaw) Clean air for our children  and energy independence for our nation are goals that we can and should attain.
   
   - Water development and conservation
   
   With Utah being the second driest state in the nation, it has always been important to develop water resources and to conserve what we have.  We need to continue to find ways to conserve and protect our water as the population continues to grow and the demands increase.  The CUCWD has been an invaluable agency in helping Utah to maintain adequate water supplies and we should continue to support their efforts both financially and in personal water conservation efforts.
   
   - Better communication between elected officials and their constituents
   
   Communication is more about listening than talking.  It's also one of the most difficult things to achieve as elected representatives.  It's important for constituents to know how to contact their representative AND to take the time to do so when they have a concern.  As a legislator I hope to put together advisory committees within the district that would help to identify concerns within the district, and then identify if those concerns are a state or local matter.  Solutions could then be sought with the proper agency--keeping government as much as possible in the control of local agencies.
   
   
3. If the State had a revenue surplus of $100 million, how would you allocate the money? (Response should include $______________ for ________________________________.
   
   If the surplus is in the education fund I would like to see $60 million go to ALL teachers in salary increases and $40 million toward reducing class sizes.
   
   I believe that education has been underfunded for many years and that it will take a concerted effort to restore funding to an acceptable level.