Greg Bell (politician)

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Gregory S. Bell
Greg Bell (politician)
Utah State Senator
In office
January 20, 2003 – Current
Preceded by Terry R. Spencer
Constituency State Senate, District 22
Born October 16, 1948 (1948-10-16) (age 59)
Ogden, Utah
Political party Republican Party
Spouse JoLynn
Residence Fruit Heights
Occupation Real Estate Developer
Religion Latter-day Saint
Website Legislative Website

Gregory S. Bell (born October 16, 1948) is an American politician and land-use attorney from Utah. A Republican, he is a member of the Utah State Senate, representing the state's 22nd senate district in Davis County. [1]

Contents

[edit] Early life and career

Bell was born on October 16, 1948 in Ogden, Utah. He graduated from Weber State University in 1972 with a B.A., and from the University of Utah College of Law in 1975 with a J.D. [2] Bell is married to JoLynn and is the father of six children including sons Braden, Ryan, Davis, and Christian, and daughters Andrea and Eliza. [2] Bell was employed as Vice President of United Savings from 1977 to 1981, Utah. He founded Gregory S. Bell and Associates law firm from 1981 to 1984, when it merged with Kirton & McConkie Law firm in 1984, where he was a partner. He left Kirton & McConkie until 1997 when he became partner in Raddon/Bell Properties, a real estate development company. [2]

Bell was elected to the Farmington City Council in 1990 and subsequently elected Mayor [Farmington, Utah|Farmington]], Utah in 1994. [2] Bell then served as Mayor of Farmington until 2002. He was elected to the Utah Senate in Utah's 22nd Senate district in 2002. Since 2003 Bell has been self-employed in Real Estate Development. [2]

[edit] Senate career

Further information: List of Utah State Legislatures

[edit] 55th Utah Legislature

Main article: 55th Utah State Legislature

Bell took office on January 20, 2003 and introduced 4 bills during his first legislative session in the State Senate. Two bills dealing with health care and two with the sale of motor vehicles. S.B. 60 and S.B. 232, both dealing with health care, failed to pass out of the Senate while S.B. 217 and S.B. 218, which dealt with motor vehicles, were defeated in the House. [3] During the 2004 General Session Bell sponsored 9 bills, of which 6 were passed into law and 3 were defeated in the Senate. 4 of the 6 bills he was able to pass dealt with criminal justice issues while the others dealt respectively with interlocal agreements and the state insurance code. [4] Bell also served as Chairman of the Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Standing Committee and was a member of the Revenue and Taxation Standing Committee and Capital Facilities and Administrative Services Appropriation Subcommittee during the 55th Utah State Legislature.

[edit] 56th Utah Legislature

Main article: 56th Utah State Legislature

Bell sponsored 15 bills during the 2005 General Session, 10 of which were signed by the governor, 4 defeated in the Senate and 1 defeated in the House. [5] Some of the most significant bills Bell sponsored to be defeated during the legislative session included S.B. 102, which made amendments to the Lobbyist Reporting requirements requiring "lobbyists [to] report more detailed information about expenses made to benefit public officials when the lobbyist spends more than $10." [5] S.B. 112 which made amedments to the "child protection and custody provisions of the Child and Family Services" provisions in the Utah Code was also defeated in the Senate. [5] S.B. 89, which was also defeated in the Senate, would have "extended some health and property-related benefits to those who cannot legally marry" [6] [7] and would have created "mutual dependence benefits contracts" allowing two adults who cannot legally marry to "share certain rights and responsibilities" including "health-related rights and responsibilities" and "property-related rights and responsibilities." [8]. While serving in the 56th Utah Legislature, Bell was a member of the Health and Human Services; Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice; and Revenue and Taxation Standing Committees.

[edit] Electoral results

Further information: 22nd Utah Senate District

Bell was first elected to the Utah State Senate in district 22 in the 2002 General Election held on Tuesday, November 5, 2002 with approximately 87% of the vote. His opponent was Green Party candidate David L. Rowland who obtained approximately 13% of the vote. Bell was up for re-election in the 2006 General Election held on Tuesday, November 7, 2006 and defeated Democratic Party candidate Dave Rowland by a margin of 71% to 23%. Also running in 2006 was Constitution Party candidate Sheryl Fluckiger who obtained approximately 6% of the vote.

Utah State Senate election, 2006
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Gregory S. Bell 14,718 71.4
Democratic David L. Rowland 4,699 22.8
Constitution Sheryl Fluckinger 1,200 5.8

[edit] Political views

Bell supports all-day kindergarten, tax credits and vouchers for private school tuition and is a strong supporter of parent choice in education. [9] Bell generally supports increased funding for public education and has expressed his support for displaying the Ten Commandments in public schools.[10] He has also sponsored legislation that would grant same-sex couples "mutual dependence benefits" [8] and legislation seeking to reform the lobbying and ethics rules in State Government. [11] In terms of Criminal Justice issues Bell is a supporter of the death penalty, prisoner rehabilitation programs and ending parole for repeat violent offenders. [10] Bell has been a sharp critic of state policies which essentially force cities and towns to rely on increasing their retail sales tax base and thus cater to sprawl-inducing, auto-dependent retail development which warps traditional land use and development. See his article: Sales Tax and Land Use: "Are Cities Being Driven to the Mall?", Gregory Bell, The Hinckley Journal of Politics (2007, Volume 8), p. 69.

[edit] Organizations

Bell served as Chair of Envision Utah's Steering Committee from 2001 to 2003. The Coalition for Utah's Future was founded in 1987 and would subsequently develop and implement the idea behind Envision Utah in 1997. Envision Utah is a public/private partnership that "work[s] toward quality growth within the Greater Wasatch Area of Utah" and to develop a "vision to protect Utah's environment, economic strength, and quality of life for generations to come." [12] Bell also served on the Board of Trustees of the Coalition for Utah's Future. He formerly served as President of the Farmington Bay District of the Boy Scouts of America. He served as Chair of the Real property Section of the Utah State Bar.

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

Legislative Information

Voting Record

Financial Disclosures

[edit] References

  1. ^ Official Legislative Biography, Gregory S. Bell
  2. ^ a b c d e Vote Smart Biography, Gregory S. Bell
  3. ^ Bell, Gregory S., 2003 General Session - Sponsored Bills
  4. ^ Bell, Gregory S., 2004 General Session - Sponsored Bills
  5. ^ a b c Bell, Gregory S., 2005 General Session - Sponsored Bills
  6. ^ Riley-Roche, Lisa. "State's first gay senator is sworn in", Deseret Morning News, February 8, 2005. Retrieved on 2006-02-06. 
  7. ^ Bernick, Jr., Bob. "Money abounds, but lawmakers feeling squeezed", Deseret Morning News, January 16, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-03-06. 
  8. ^ a b Utah Legislature, S.B. 89 - Mutual Dependence Benefits Contract
  9. ^ Deseret Morning News, 2006 Candidate page
  10. ^ a b Project Vote Smart, 2002 NPAT
  11. ^ Bell, Gregory S., S.B. 102 - Lobbying Reporting Amendments
  12. ^ Envision Utah, http://www.envisionutah.org/