November 2022 — MELISSA BALLARD

*|MC:SUBJECT|*

Checking In At The Legislature: October & November Update

Friends and Neighbors,

Thank you for your vote! I am excited to continue representing you in House District 20. I am grateful for your support and remain committed to working hard for you. In this next legislative session, I will work on confronting inflation, drought mitigation and water conservation, air quality, effective clean energy solutions, and education. As always, please reach out to me with any questions or input on legislation being worked on.

-Melissa

In this issue:

Op-Eds published in October
Water Conservation and Saving the Great Salt Lake
Republican victory party
Happy Thanksgiving!
Changes to House Districts
October Interim Meetings

Quick Links and Upcoming Events

October interim highlights: https://le.utah.gov/interim/2022/pdf/00004203.pdf
November interim meetings: http://le.utah.gov/

Can Utah become a hydrogen power hub?

Recently I published an Op-Ed in the Deseret News. In this Op-Ed I highlighted the fact that Utah has the potential to become a hydrogen power hub in the West. Utah is well positioned to become a national and global leader in hydrogen power, which is something I have long advocated for in Salt Lake City. In fact, Utah companies are already making considerable progress to that end, particularly with the recent procurement of a $500 million DOE loan for the Advanced Clean Energy Storage project in Delta, which is being touted as the “world’s largest” clean hydrogen hub. Read more here.

Hydrogen is a key to Utah’s economic and environmental future

I also co-authored an Op-ed with Roxana Bekemohammadi and Sarah E. Hunt. In this Op-ed, we write, "The Beehive State is ideally situated as a hub for this next-generation fuel due to our abundant natural resources (to produce it), skilled workforce (to harness it), established infrastructure (to transport it) — and our unique geography (to store it). In other words, Utah has the total package regarding hydrogen power. That’s why the federal government recently announced it would help develop the world’s largest hydrogen storage facility in Delta." Read more here.

Water Conservation and Saving the Great Salt Lake

Speaker Brad Wilson hosted the second annual Great Salt Lake Summit this past month to discuss how to best protect our lake. State legislators, local city officials, members of our congressional delegation, water experts, and Utahns from all across the State came together to explore solutions. Protecting the Great Salt Lake is in the best interest of every Utahn. If you’re interested in learning more about what is being done to conserve, you can read about it here.

Victory Party

It was a good year for Republicans in Utah. People in Utah are seeing that under Republican leadership, we have produced the best economy in the country and one of the greatest hiring markets. It was fun celebrating victories with my colleagues at the GOP victory party. We are looking to get some great work done for Utah over the next two years!

Happy Thanksgiving

This time of year serves as a helpful reminder to be grateful for the many blessings in our lives. We are privileged to live in such an incredible state full of so many wonderful people. I am especially grateful for the opportunity to serve and represent each of you.