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MURRAY — Salt Lake County Democrats regrouped Saturday, hoping to boost support for elections in coming years, and rally for issues including Medicaid expansion and equal pay for women, among others.
Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck, D-Salt Lake City, told the weekend caucus-goers that the recent failure of the Utah Legislature to act on Gov. Gary Herbert's Healthy Utah plan "has nothing to do with health care. It all has to do with politics."
Chavez-Houck said Republicans are either waiting for results of the upcoming presidential election or a U.S. Supreme Court ruling against the Affordable Care Act; or are "pandering to their congressional delegation," who have said federal money won't be available to cover Medicaid expansion in the states that opt to do so.
She encouraged county Democrats to make their voices heard, including attending meetings on the matter, writing letters to the editor and "enforcing good behavior" of lawmakers, even in opposing parties, who voted for the governor's plan to extend health care coverage to Utah's poor and uninsured.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill called the issue a "policymakers' failure." He said prison populations are mostly made up of people with mental health problems, drug addictions or who live in poverty.
"I am the most expensive solution to what is a public health and policy issue," he said Saturday. Gill said he believes proper health care could prevent some crimes from occurring.
Salt Lake City mayoral candidate and former Utah lawmaker Jackie Biskupski rallied for more available health care, as well. She said, "Medicaid expansion has to happen."
The issue passed out of the Utah Senate, but was held back by the House with 22 votes in favor and 52 against.
Democrats lost three state House of Representatives spots in the last election, two in West Valley City and one in Murray, though each race was close. And of the 528 bills passed in the recent legislative session, 41 were Democrat-sponsored.
Utah Democratic Party Chairman Peter Corroon said Utah had one of the "worst voter turnouts in the nation." He hopes to rally enough Democratic strength in his party to win back seats and make more progress.
Some nominated for party offices said they'd like to push a mail-in ballot to capture more voters' interest.
Various caucuses, including the LDS Democrats, also recommitted themselves to better service, either by providing donations or more time to the party. A recent Pew study revealed that just 22 percent of Mormons identify as Democrats, but that number has grown by 5 percent in the past three years, a point of satisfaction for the group.
The political group, which claims to follow the teachings in Chapter 4 of the book of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon, wants to encourage more LDS and non-LDS people to make their political involvement known and perhaps help grow support of Demcrats in Utah.
Gill commended them, saying he "believes in the power of reaching across line and changing minds."
"We can turn the state a little more purple," said La Vonne Maloney, a voting member of the party's executive committee.
Gearing up for the state Democratic Party Convention on June 13 in Park City, candidates also used the local gathering at Cottonwood High School on Saturday to shake hands and introduce themselves.
The party intends to address reforms to the nomination process, imposed by elections amendments that passed the 2014 session, at the upcoming convention. The county party also elected new officers and legislative district officers to guide the direction of their party for the next two years.
