Lisa Shepherd - running for State House Rep. 61

I have recently been able to have several in depth conversations with Lisa Shepherd. I think she is a very brave women for sticking her neck out there. She just happens to be a member of my precinct and up until the middle of March was my Legislative Chair (which is the Republican party leader of my district). She took a leave of absence so she could run for office.

INFORMATIVE: Lisa always wants us to be informed. I was the precinct vice chair and was able to fill in for the chair at our caucus meeting. Lisa was very good at keeping me informed through email, letters, and phone calls about training and other such meetings and issues. One thing I've been most impressed by is the fact that she does her homework. She doesn't just make a decision because someone told her to take that stand or because she knows that's how you feel about that issue.

IMMIGRATION: Right now immigration is a huge topic, especially what to do with illegal status students that are receiving in-state tuition. Lisa called Utah State Attorney General, Mark Shurtleff, to ask if repealing the in-state tuition was legal based upon the Supreme Court Case that decided all children were to be educated in public schools without tuition. That court case made her curious as to if it was legal to repeal in-state tuition based upon the Fourteenth Amendment. She found that to deny illegal status students in-state tuition is in violation of the law. She was told that she was the only person who has ever even bothered to ask. She said that it really disappointed her that others would not try to seek or do their homework. She referred me to her website for more information on illegal immigration www.lisashepherd61.com.

VOUCHERS: She voted against vouchers because the bill was a broken bill, it just wasn't right. She says that vouchers is a big topic right now and that it will come up in the legislature again. She has come up with a plan that would allow people a tax deduction for sending their kids to a private school based on your income. This would keep the government intrusion out of the schools and still offer a bit of financial relief.

WHY SHE IS RUNNING: She feels like more needs to be done in our state government. She thinks that someone needs to get in there and fight for the people. She feels like our current representative is not accurately representing the people, but doing what leadership and other legislators want him to do. She feels that one of the ways the people are not being represented is the lack of attendance to meetings by our current representative.

REPRESENTATION: She is willing to be the underdog and stand up for what she believes. She says that she never wants anyone to feel with her that she tells you what you want to hear, but that she is open and honest. She is willing to be the first to tell you what she thinks and then will really listen to your side of the issue. She is always willing to listen to those of us she represents.