Candidate Information Form: Utah House – District 33

Name: Warren Webb

Registered Party: Republican

District: 33

Address: 4553 Fireweed Dr., Taylorsville, UT 84123

Phone: 801-685-6171

Email: wwnww6@msn.com

Website: www.WarrenWebb.us

Candidate Background Information

Occupation: Information specialist, Utah State Tax Commission

Education: B.S. in Accounting, Brigham Young University, 1968

Prior Experience: Federal and Utah government, CPA, private industry management

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, ethics reform is critically needed. Our elected representatives must be above reproach and disclose all financial and other relationships with special interests, including full disclosure of all gifts exchanged. We must restore confidence in government by electing those who will abide by the principles of honesty and integrity.
   
   Second, we must limit the size of our government growth. Over the past four years the state budget has increased significantly. We must have a fair and understandable tax system that rewards success and good behavior and close loopholes and special interest provisions that don't serve the public good.
   
   Government growth should be limited to the growth in our state population.
   
   
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
   
   Education is one of our most critical areas as the education of our children will impact us for generations to come. However, we must fund our educational institutions without bankrupting our citizens. We must make certain income tax collections are used for educational purposes as mandated by our state Constitution.
   
   We must rethink how we do the business of education. If we keep doing things the way we have always done them, we will not solve the problems we are currently facing.
   
   We must increase the teacher to administrator ratio in our school system. More of our school budgets must be directed to the classroom instead of administrative preferences.
   
   We must expand the educational opportunities for special needs students, and not just ship them around the school districts. We must provide more ESL class for non-English speaking students and their parents.
   
   Education and skills taught our prison inmates is important to the rehabilitation process. If these inmates are released without an education or skill, they will return to their former lifestyle. Providing them with education and skills gives them an opportunity to change their lives that will repay the state many times over in the coming years.
   
   - Energy resource development and clean air
   
   We have fallen so far behind in our energy development that it will take some serious steps to catch up. We have become so concerned with the "correct political answer" that we have failed to provide for our needs and those of future generations.
   
   We must take action now to develop alternative energy sources to relieve our dependence on foreign oil. And we must develop alternative sources of electricity to keep up with the growth of our state.
   
   Wind, geothermal and solar energy are good alternatives that need to be expanded. But these sources will never be able to meet our overall demand. Nuclear energy must be pursued if we are to have affordable, clean and safe energy. We must stop listening to those who use scare tactics to tell us nuclear energy is bad. Over twenty percent of the electrical energy in the United States now comes from nuclear plants. The percentage is even higher is England and other European countries.
   
   With alternative energy sources, we can clean up our environment and provide a better future for generations to come. We must do it now.
   
   - Water development and conservation
   
   Utah is located in the desert. Water is a precious commodity that not only sustains life but provides recreational enjoyment.
   
   But water is a limited resource. We have had years of plenty and then years when we had to conserve. We must continually be planning for the future; no year can stand alone.
   
   We must have in place a water policy that keeps our reservoirs filled, our lakes and streams clean, and provides for our ever-increasing needs. We cannot just sell our water to the highest bidder or give it to surrounding states to use for more and bigger recreational areas.
   
   The public must be educated concerning the need to constantly conserve water, not just during drought years. With a proper understanding of how we get our water and how we use it, we can have enough to meet our needs and help those around us.
   
   - Better communication between elected officials and their constituents
   
   We have seen the dialogue between the citizen and the elected representative deteriorate over the past years. No longer is the constituent treated as someone of intelligence or interest. Rather, some representatives seem to project the impression that they "know it all" and "don't confuse me with the facts."
   
   We must restore confidence in our government by electing those who will abide by the principles of honesty and integrity, and will respect their constituents and their point of view.
   
   We need more open and transparent government where deals are not made in secret. We need better disclosure of the relationship between lobbyists/special interests and the elected officials. We need to close the loophole on gift giving to our representatives and disclose all financial and other relationships that exist between them and special interests.
   
   With honesty, integrity and listening, we can work together to accomplish great good for the state of Utah.
   
   
3. If the State had a revenue surplus of $100 million, how would you allocate the money? (Response should include $______________ for ________________________________.
   
   100,000,000.00
   The definition of a surplus is money that was unexpected and not budgeted. This money comes from the taxpayers. It was in excess of what was needed to run the state. It should be returned to the taxpayers. It was not a gift nor a prize given to the Legislature to do with as they pleased. It belongs to the citizens and the Legislature is morally obligated to return it.