Meeting Minutes, Jan. 4, 2023

Posted on by

Meeting Minutes for
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Utah State Democratic Progressive Caucus

7:00-8:30 p.m., January 4, 2022

Presiding and Conducting: Emily Olsen, Chair

  1. The meeting minutes from the April 14, 2022 meeting were approved.
  2. Announcements
    Date of 2023 Utah Democratic Convention: May 19-20 in Cedar City
  3. Proposed change to Utah Progressive Caucus By-laws
    Article VIII, Section B:
    Any such motions or letters for removal that are received by a member of the Executive Committee will may be redirected to the Judicial Committee of the Utah Democratic Party. If the motion regards the Chair of the Caucus, the motion will also be submitted to the Vice Chair.
    Motion was made to approve the change to the proposed change to the bylaws, and it was seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

    The reason for the need to revise the bylaws was that a member of the Executive Committee, the secretary, has become inactive due to family obligations, and there is a need to replace her.

    The Chair nominated Terri Marshall Gilfillan, who presently serves as the caucus’ treasurer, as the secretary.
    The motion was seconded, and it passed unanimously. Terri has not needed to do anything as Treasurer, since we are not actively using our PAC and have not set up a bank account for it.

  4. Proposing amendments to Utah Democratic Party Constitution
    The Chair proposed edits to the UDP Constitution for which she asked for the caucus’ endorsement. Below are the proposed edits:

    A. Article 1, Section 1:
    28 Section 1. The Utah State Democratic Party shall:
    29 (i) Nominate and assist in the election of only Democratic Party candidates for public
    30 elected office, with particular emphasis on U.S. Senatorial and Congressional candidates, which draw in support for other Democratic candidates down ballot – except in the case when no Democratic candidate exists for a respective office;
    31 (ii) Adopt and promote statements of policy;
    32 (iii) Assist local, state, and federal Democratic Party organizations in the election of their Democratic candidates and the
    33 education of their voters;
    34 (iv) Establish standards and rules of procedure to afford all members of the Democratic
    35 Party full, timely and equal opportunities to participate in decisions concerning the
    36 selection of candidates, the formulation of policy, and the conduct of other
    37 Democratic Party affairs, and, further, to support without prejudice all Utah Democratic Party-endorsed candidates monetarily and/or by availing them to other party resources, promote fair campaign practices, and the fair
    38 adjudication of disputes;
    39 (v) Raise and disburse monies needed for the successful operation of the Democratic
    40 Party;
    41 (vi) Work with Democratic public officials at all levels to achieve the objectives of the
    42 Democratic Party including, but not limited to, the promotion of Democratic ideals as listed in the Utah Democratic Party Platform and the successful election of Utah Democratic Party-endorsed candidates; and, […].

    There was discussion about how the UDP charged 2022 U.S. Congressional candidates $2,000 for access to VoteBuilder. Some progressive candidates reported getting outdated phone banking lists, while less progressive candidates got more accurate lists and more attention given to them. The UDP also charged candidates an exorbitant fee for a space at the hotel downtown on election night where their headquarters were located. Candidates are already having to pay for so much for their campaigns, and it seems that the UDP should provide more services to U.S. candidates rather than use them as a revenue source.

    There was also discussion and consensus that what happened at the 2022 UDP Convention in regards to Evan McMullin should not be repeated, that it was a bad message to Utah that we were willing to vote out a viable Democratic Candidate in exchange for the Independent candidate Evan McMullin. It means that we as a party don’t think we have anything to offer Utah, when that could not be further from the truth.

    The Chair also explained that the Progressive Caucus is not intending to be adversarial to the UDP Executive Committee, and that we will work with whoever we can to help address some of these concerns as a means to strengthen the party. She is concerned that the UDP is more engaged in internal bickering instead of reaching potential voters in Utah.

    A motion was made to propose the changes to the UDP Central Committee for a vote, and it was seconded.
    The motion passed.

  5. Points of interest in the upcoming 2023 Legislative Session
    The Chair is keeping a bill list at UtahProgressives.org. A few state representatives and senators were in attendance and gave a rundown of some of the legislation they are proposing, including:

    Rep. Rosemary Lesser:
    HB 84 – Postpartum Medicaid Coverage Amendments
    Requires the Division of Medicaid and Health Financing to request a Medicaid waiver or state plan amendment from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to extend the duration of postpartum coverage.
    HB 85 – Pregnancy Medicaid Coverage Amendments
    Requires the Division of Medicaid and Health Financing to request a Medicaid state plan amendment from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to extend Medicaid coverage to pregnant women with a household income less than or equal to 200% of the federal poverty level.

    Senator Jen Plumb:
    SB 86 – Drug Testing and Paraphernalia Amendments
    Creates an exemption from liability under the Utah Controlled Substances Act for certain entities that temporarily possess a controlled or counterfeit substance in order to conduct a test on the substance for a certain reason; and modifies the definition of “drug paraphernalia” to exclude certain testing products or equipment
    SB 92 – Special License Plate Designation
    Creates the Great Salt Lake Preservation support special group license plate; directs revenue generated by the support special group license plate to be deposited; into the Sovereign Lands Management Account to enhance preservation of the Great Salt Lake watershed and ecosystem

  6. Caucus sponsorship of statewide lecture series
    The Chair is looking into speaking at different colleges and universities about Progressive ideals as a recruiting technique.
  7. Scheduling of the next General Membership Meeting
    It was agreed that the chair would send around possible dates for the next General Membership Meeting in a Google Survey to see what days work best for people’s schedules.
  8. Adjournment
    A motion to adjourn was given, and it was seconded. The vote was unanimous.