In researching elections, I look first to Vote Smart to see if candidates have provided their positions on key issues in the 2022 Political Courage Test. Mike Lee didn’t furnish responses.
So, I looked up Lee’s voting record. This year he voted against the Inflation Reduction Act, which will help Utahns in myriad ways - dollars for rural development for clean energy development and wildfire and water source protection; increased IRS funding, so the agency runs effectively, can replenish staff and collect taxes owed, primarily by the super-rich and corporations; an alternate minimum tax on corporate profits over one billion dollars; permission for Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices and lower consumers’ out of pocket medical expenses. Starting in January, insulin prices will be substantially capped.
Lee voted no on both the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and the PACT Act, which fund expanded telehealth and Medicaid for mental health, include dating relationships in domestic violence cases, and give dollars to schools for safety measures and suicide prevention. Lee voted no to address the Opioid Crisis (2018) and on the Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act. These laws help Utahns.
Lee voted no on the Small Business COVID Relief Act, which allocated resources to restaurants, gyms, minor league sports teams and event venues and no, again, on the America Competes Act, which jumpstarts our semiconductor industry. Lee consistently voted no, during COVID, to extend government funding and emergency assistance to the BLM, the National Park Service, the Forest Service, the Indian Health Services division of HHS, Afghan refugees and dollars for national disaster relief.
He voted no on the Infrastructure and Investment and Jobs Act, which provides money for highways, lead removal, safe drinking water and rural bridges. He was a no on the American Rescue Plan that provided relief to state and local governments, individuals and businesses in the midst of the pandemic.
No to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, giving COVID relief to individuals and extending unemployment benefits and business loans to those in need.
No on the Families First COVID Response Act (CARES), which gave paid sick leave to those who got ill, provided free COVID tests, expanded food assistance and unemployment benefits and protected health care workers.
On strengthening our fragile and imperfect democracy, Lee voted no. He opposed the John Lewis Voting Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, which would have strengthened our freedom to vote.
Instead, he encouraged President Donald Trump to explore alternative slates of electors, which would dishonor the votes legally cast and certified. He voted no on the For the People Act, which would require candidates for president and vice president to release their tax returns, require a code of conduct for federal judges, enhance cybersecurity of election systems and establish independent redistricting commissions to end gerrymandering, so egregious in Utah. No on establishing a National Commission to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The Paycheck Fairness Act earned another no from Lee. Utah tops the U.S. for pay disparity between men and women. No to raising the federal minimum wage, which stands at $7.25/hour, where it’s been stuck since 2009. No to reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act.
Lee opposed the National Defense Authorization Act, which allowed the Department of Defense to remove Confederate names from army bases, allocated funds for research into “deep fake” disinformation and cybersecurity and authorized a report on corruption among Russian oligarchs.
Through the years, Lee has regularly voted no on appropriations bills, hampering the government’s efforts to serve its people. He has consistently voted against funding for the management of natural resources, such as the Water Conservation Fund. All these votes hurt Utahns.
Conversely, the senator voted yes to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, a boondoggle of lower taxes for the überwealthy and huge corporations, while the rest of us were left with a trillion-dollar federal deficit increase.
Despite GOP promises, new jobs and higher wages did not materialize for salaried Americans. Lee voted multiple times to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Luckily, the ACA stands, helping so many Utahns to afford medical care.
Evan McMullin now has my vote.
Rochelle Kaplan
Rochelle Kaplan, Cottonwood Heights, is a board member of the Better Utah Institute and a retired high school teacher.