| Dan Liljenquist | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Utah Senate from the 23rd district |
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| In office 2008–2011 |
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| Preceded by | Dan Eastman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 10, 1974 Nashville, Tennessee |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Brooke |
| Residence | Bountiful, Utah |
| Occupation | Businessman/Attorney |
| Religion | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
| Website | DanLiljenquist.com Twitter: SenatorDanLFacebook: Dan Liljenquist |
Daniel R Liljenquist (born July 10, 1974) was the Republican member of the Utah State Senate representing the state's 23rd senate district in Davis County from Jan 2009-Dec 2011.
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Born in Nashville to Dr. John E Liljenquist and Colleen Redford Liljenquist, he spent most of his childhood in Idaho Falls. After a football injury sidelined him as a high school junior, his attention turned to politics. He served as the student body president of his senior class at Skyline High School in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
He attended Brigham Young University (BYU) on a one-year renewable scholarship with a minimum 3.9 GPA required. Liljenquist was able to renew his scholarship annually and in 1998, graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. After graduation, he attended the University of Chicago law school graduating with his Juris Doctorate in 2001.
Already an experienced entrepreneur, Liljenquist spent the summer between his first and second years of law school interning for the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship. He provided free law help as well as business consulting aimed at helping fledgling businesses get off the ground. During his internship, he was told by a Chicago alderman that "he didn't want his constituents going into business for themselves because it might lead them to believe they could become self-sufficient."[1]
Between his second and third year, he interned for Kirkland & Ellis where Ken Starr was the lead counsel. Before starting his final year of law school, he interviewed with Bain & Company. Out of 250 applicants from the University of Chicago Business and Law Schools, only he was chosen from the law school.
After joining Bain, he moved with his wife Brooke to Dallas, Texas where he worked for the internationally renowned global management consulting firm as a strategy consultant from 2001 to 2003 dealing with multi-million dollar accounts.
In 2003, he joined Affiliated Computer Services, a Fortune 500 Business Process Outsourcing leader. He served as Director of Operational Strategy for the $3B Commercial Solutions Group, working out of their Sandy, Utah office.
In 2006, he joined FOCUS Services, LLC and currently serves as its president and chief operating officer. A privately owned call center founded in 1995 with 2 employees, it now has just under 1500 employees working in 7 facilities around the world. He sold his interests in the company in January 2011.
In 2011, he began consulting with the Laura and John Arnold Foundation as an expert on pension reform. By Dec 2011, he had consulted with almost 40 states.
In 2008, incumbent Senator Dan Eastman did not file for re-election. Eight Davis county Republicans filed to take his place. At the 2008 Davis county Republican convention, Liljenquist emerged with 55% of the delegate vote.[2] In the ensuing primary with Ron Mortensen, Liljenquist won with 64% of the vote to Mortensen's 36%.[3]
After the June primary, Liljenquist was traveling in Guatemala with CHOICE Humanitarian when his plane crashed in a field. Eleven of the fourteen people aboard the aircraft died.[4] Liljenquist broke his right leg and left ankle in multiple places. Talking about the crash and the friends who died, Liljenquist said "For those families, I just try to make it count. I just try to make my life count for something. I just feel like I owe that to my friends."[5]
In the November election, he received 70.40% of the vote to Democrat Richard Watson's 26.2% and Constitution Party candidate, Jorgina Hancock's 3.3%.
(This section has been copied directly from Liljenquist' website.)
In his freshman year in the Utah Senate, Liljenquist sponsored SB 126: State Personnel Management Act Amendments that put performance over length of service when considering rehiring public employees, effectively eliminating tenure.
In 2010, Liljenquist tackled pension reform with SB 63, moving Utah to a defined contribution state maxing out at 10%. Spurred by a 30% loss to the state retirement fund in 2008, Liljenquist focused on changing the system for new hires entering after July 1, 2011, moving away from a defined benefit program to a defined contribution plan. He also successfully sponsored a companion bill, SB 43 that does away with the so-called practice of "double-dipping".[6] His bill also eliminated pensions for legislators.
In 2011, Liljenquist was the sponsor of Utah's Medicaid reform. SB 180, which passed unanimously, proposes block granting Medicaid funds to Utah, switches from a fee-for-service model to a managed care system and made Utah the first state in the nation to cap Medicaid growth. The reforms are estimated to save $2.5 billion on total funds in the first 7 years of its implementation.[7]
Governing Magazine named him a 2011 "Public Official of the Year" for his work on both pension and Medicaid reform.[8][9][10] FreedomWorks named him their "Legislative Entrepreneur of the Year" in November, 2011.[11]
Appropriations:
Standing:
Interim:
On January 4th 2012, during a Doug Wright interview on KSL 1160, Senator Liljenquist announced that he will challenge longtime incumbent U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch for Utah's senate seat.
On December 15, 2011, Liljenquist resigned from the Utah Senate, stating "Life is short. It's time to move on." His resignation was a clear indication he would be running for the US Senate.[13]
He also said that he believes SCHIP, one of Hatch's signature legislative accomplishments, is unconstitutional.[14] Nevertheless, as a member of the Utah Senate, Liljenquist voted to expand CHIP coverage to children of legal immigrants, regardless of how long they have been in the country. [15]
On January 3, 2012, the day before Liljenquist anounced his plans to run against Senator Hatch, The Salt Lake Tribune reported that he had neglected to pay his taxes on time. [16]