Deidre Henderson

Deidre Henderson
Henderson in February 2013
Member of the Utah Senate
from the 7th[1] district
Assumed office
January 1, 2013
Preceded by Ross I. Romero
Personal details
Born September 4
Nationality American
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Gabe Henderson
Children 5
Residence Spanish Fork, Utah
Alma mater Brigham Young University
Profession Small Business Owner
Website

deidrehenderson.com

http://senate.utah.gov/senators/district7.html

Deidre M. Henderson[2] is a politician elected to her first political position as a Republican member of the Utah State Senate. She is based in Spanish Fork, Utah and represents District 7. She assumed office on January 1, 2013.

Education, Personal Life, and Career

Deidre Henderson graduated from Taylorsville High School in Taylorsville, Utah.[3] She continued her education and graduated from Brigham Young University.[3] She married Gabe Henderson and they have five children. Before joining the Utah State Senate, Henderson worked as a business consultant, and was involved in U.S. Congressman Jason Chaffetz's 2008 campaign.[4] Senator Henderson is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons).

Political career

Senator Henderson started her political career working for the Jason Chaffetz Campaign.[3][5] She was elected to the Utah State Senate in 2012 and re-elected in 2016.[6][7]

Beginning on January 1, 2017, Senator Henderson will serve on the following committees:

  • Senate Rules Committee (Chair)
  • Revenue and Taxation Committee
  • Education Committee
  • Business, Labor, and Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee
  • Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee[8]

Senator Henderson ran to replace Jason Chaffetz in the U.S. Congress representing Utah's Third Congressional District in 2017. She was favored to win the Republican nomination for the position, but ended up losing at the Utah Republican Party Delegate Voting on June 17, 2017 to Chris Herrod.

Political Goals and Achievements

Transparency

Transparency has been a consistent policy goal for Henderson. She is fond of the maxim "sunshine is the best disinfectant".[9] Henderson sponsored transparency-related bills almost every year since taking office.[10][11][12][13][14] One of the more prominent of these bills was SB283 in 2013.[15] This bill led to the creation of open.utah.gov, a website that serves as an online repository of certain public records for the Utah government entities.-- financials, meeting minutes, etc. that features data visualizers and downloadable spreadsheets.[16][17]

Eliminating Protectionism against Birthing Centers

In 2005, the state established a licensing procedure for Direct Entry Midwives in Utah. This statute allowed midwives to practice in any out-of-hospital setting including birthing centers.[18] Contrary to this statute, however, the Health Facilities Licensing Board, charged with the task of regulating health facility licenses by means of administrative rule, required birth centers to maintain transfer agreements with a local hospital in order to have a birthing center license. No hospitals were willing to grant a transfer agreement to a Birthing center.[19] For 10 years, the small group of midwives appealed to this committee over and over to find a way to get licenses for their Birthing Centers. This committee, which consisted of doctors, nurses and hospital administrators, consistently rejected their appeals for 10 years. Consequently, there were no birth centers in Utah with more than one room.[20][21]

Her bill, SB108 in the 2016 session, prohibited the Health Facilities Licensing Board from requiring transfer agreements with hospitals as a condition of licensing. In its place, midwives were required to develop transfer plans.[22]

During the debate, Senator Henderson argued that the administrative rule allowed hospitals to severely cripple the success of their competition, birthing centers.[23] She orchestrated the passage of the bill and the first Birthing Center with more than one room opened in the fall of 2016.[24]

Her work on this issue earned her the American Association of Birthing Centers (AABC) Public Advocate of the Year for 2016.[23][25]

Food Truck Freedom

Prior to the 2017 session, food truck owners in Utah had to pay anywhere from $45 to one city in a year, $250 in another, and $1400 in another to hold licenses in these jurisdictions. In some locations, food truck operators pay per-day fees. In other locations, they are forced to pay licensing fees per vehicle.[26][27] Senator Henderson’s SB250 made this confusing patchwork of regulations a little more manageable for food truck owners.[28] This bill requires food trucks to maintain business licenses and health and fire safety inspection certificates without compromising public safety and right-of-way requirements. It provides more standardization for business license fees and permit fees. It limits the fees beyond the cost of regulation and to require redundant safety inspections. Lastly, it prohibits “Per-day” ,”Per-location” fees, and regulations specifying that food trucks must maintain a certain distance from a restaurant.[29]

Recognizing the Candy Bomber

Senator Henderson sponsored an effort during the 2017 session (SCR04) to recognize Gail Halvorsen—affectionately known as the "Candy Bomber" and one of Henderson's constituents—for his extraordinary lifetime of service.[30][15] This Resolution reads in part:

"WHEREAS, during the Berlin Airlift from 1948 to 1949, Halvorsen, moved by the gratitude and resilience of the children living in that devastated city, dropped tiny handkerchief-sized parachutes filled with candy from his C-54 for the children of Berlin to chase down and collect — an act for which he was affectionately nicknamed the “candy bomber,” and, though he was nearly court-martialed for doing so, Halvorsen continued to make his candy drops for several months;

WHEREAS, in the decades following the airlift, having achieved the rank of Colonel in the United States Air Force, Halvorsen continued his service in the Civilian Air Patrol, returning to Germany as a commander of the Tempelhof Central Airport in Berlin and as the United States Air Force Representative to the city of Berlin; and

WHEREAS, almost 70 years later, Halvorsen’s service to the children of Berlin stands as one of the foremost examples of kindness and human compassion, bringing relief to a war-torn country and joy to children in need of a little bit of hope, and his continued participation in humanitarian air drops to children in Bosnia, Albania, Micronesia, and elsewhere has served as an inspiring example of dedicated service.”[15]

Legislative Awards

  • American Association of Birthing Centers Advocate of the Year 2016[31]
  • Friend of the Taxpayer, Utah Taxpayer's Association 2015
  • Defender of Liberty, Libertas Institute 2015
  • Legislator of the Year, Fraternal Order of Police 2015
  • Taxpayer Advocate of the Year, Utah Taxpayer's Association 2014
  • Friend of Transportation and the Taxpayer, Mountainland Association of Governments 2014
Senator Henderson Recognizing Gail Halvorsen , the "Candy Bomber", and his Family on the Senate Floor, 2017 Session

Elections

  • In 2012, Henderson was selected from among two candidates by the Republican convention and was unopposed for the November 6, 2012 General election, winning with 27,257 votes.[32] This district formerly consisted of the East bench of the Salt Lake Valley and was held by Democratic Senator Ross I. Romero who retired from the Senate in 2012. The Utah Legislature's 2012 redistricting plan moved District 7 from the Salt Lake Valley to the Southern portion of Utah County.[33]
  • In 2016, Senator Henderson defeated her Democratic opponent, Andrew Apsley, with 83.65% of the vote to Apsley's 16.35%.[7]
  • In 2017, Senator Henderson failed to win the Utah Republican Nomination for the election to replace Congressman Jason Chaffetz.

Legislation

2016 sponsored bills

Bill Number and TitleBill Status
S.B. 15 Apportionment of Business Income AmendmentsGovernor Signed 3/28/2016
S.B. 16 Tax Credit AmendmentsGovernor Signed 3/18/2016
S.B. 99 Transparency for Political SubdivisionsGovernor Signed 3/23/2016
S.B. 108 Birthing Center AmendmentsGovernor Signed 3/18/2016
S.B. 126 Committee Authority AmendmentsGovernor Signed 3/28/2016
S.B. 128 Taxing Entities Tax Rate AmendmentsSenate/Filed for bills not passed 3/10/2016
S.B. 164 Local Government ModificationsGovernor Signed 3/28/2016
S.B. 245 Personal Property AmendmentsGovernor Signed 3/25/2016

[34]

References

  1. ↑ "Henderson, Deidre M." Salt Lake City, Utah: Utah State Legislature. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Deidre Henderson's Biography". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 "Deidre Henderson Facebook". Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Deidre Henderson". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on November 19, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Henderson, Deidre M." Utah State Senate. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Deidre Henderson - Ballotpedia". ballotpedia.org. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
  7. 1 2 https://electionresults.utah.gov/elections/senate/7
  8. ↑ http://senatesite.com/utahsenate/senate-chairmanships-announced/
  9. ↑ http://www.sltrib.com/news/3783372-155/auditor-warns-secretive-utah-agency-to
  10. ↑ https://le.utah.gov/~2013/bills/static/SB0283.html
  11. ↑ https://le.utah.gov/~2013/bills/static/SB0077.html
  12. ↑ https://le.utah.gov/~2014/bills/static/SB0059.html
  13. ↑ https://le.utah.gov/~2016/bills/static/SB0099.html
  14. ↑ https://le.utah.gov/~2017/bills/static/SB0150.html
  15. 1 2 3 https://le.utah.gov/~2017/bills/static/SCR004.html
  16. ↑ https://www.utah.gov/open/
  17. ↑ https://www.utah.gov/data/
  18. ↑ https://le.utah.gov/~2005/bills/static/hb0025.html
  19. ↑ http://utahlegislature.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=19334&meta_id=607402
  20. ↑ http://utahlegislature.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?clip_id=19880&meta_id=619735
  21. ↑ http://fox13now.com/2016/01/22/utah-midwives-demand-changes-to-restrictive-licensing-rules/
  22. ↑ https://le.utah.gov/~2017/bills/static/SB0108.html
  23. 1 2 https://le.utah.gov/~2016/bills/static/SB0108.html
  24. ↑ http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/north/lehi/lehi-s-cottage-health-center-becomes-first-licensed-birthing-center/article_5a687964-9ce9-5895-841b-42c5d2f93bc2.html
  25. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BSN-h2ODbo
  26. ↑ http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/4976442-155/op-ed-food-trucks-in-utah-need
  27. ↑ http://fox13now.com/2017/01/18/proposed-bill-would-streamline-regulations-for-food-trucks-in-utah/
  28. ↑ https://le.utah.gov/~2017/bills/static/SB0250.html
  29. ↑ http://www.sltrib.com/news/4980585-155/lawmaker-wants-to-remove-regulatory-roadblocks
  30. ↑ http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865672563/Utah-Senate-honors-Candy-Bomber-for-lifetime-of-service.html
  31. ↑ http://www.deidrehenderson.com/2016/11/01/public-advocate-award/
  32. ↑ "2012 General Canvass Report". Salt Lake City, Utah: Lieutenant Governor of Utah. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  33. ↑ https://le.utah.gov/~2012/bills/static/SB0125.html
  34. ↑ "2016 -- Legislation(Senate)". le.utah.gov. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
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