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- John Arthur, a sixth grade teacher, cast his first legislative vote to repeal HB267.
- Arthur, named 2021 Utah Teacher of the Year, replaced Rep. Gay Lynn Bennion and was sworn in ahead of Tuesday's special session.
- Arthur previously worked with labor unions to repeal HB267 via referendum.
COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — After spending much of the last year organizing an effort to overturn Utah's controversial law banning public unions from collective bargaining, sixth-grade teacher John Arthur cast his first vote in the Utah Legislature Tuesday to repeal that very same law.
Arthur, who was named 2021 Utah Teacher of the Year, was selected by Democratic delegates to fill the seat of former Rep. Gay Lynn Bennion, who was elected as mayor of Cottonwood Heights last month. He was sworn in ahead of a special legislative session and took the floor Tuesday evening in a tuxedo bought for him by his mother for his wedding.
"It felt like a storybook," Arthur said Wednesday, referring to his vote to roll back the bill he had fought against for months.
"When HB267 passed, I stood shoulder to shoulder, I threw on my walking boots and went out and gathered signatures with all the other teachers and public workers and volunteers. It was movie-dramatic. ... Then to come back on Tuesday as the representative, get sworn in and have my first vote on the House floor be to repeal HB267 — it really was one of the most special full-circle moments in my life."
Arthur said HB2001, the bill repealing the earlier ban on collective bargaining for public unions, was a celebration of teachers, firefighters and police officers. And although he disagreed with the original policy restricting bargaining rights, he said that the bill brought public workers together in solidarity.
"It brought us together in a way that I've never seen before," he said on the House floor. "I'm a 13-year teacher and teaching has been tough and I can't remember a time where I felt more proud to be a teacher and more unified with everybody that I work with than I was around this bill to see it go. ... I want to just thank you for this opportunity to thank all the everyday heroes out there who have benefited from this experience of finding unity and solidarity in places we never thought we would."
The new representative was admittedly not entirely happy when it became known that the lawmakers would vote to repeal HB267. Like many others who had worked to place a referendum to repeal the law on the ballot, part of him was looking forward to letting the process play out.
"I hated the idea of cheating voters out of the opportunity and the privilege to vote down HB267," he said Wednesday. "And last night, when we were voting on it ... I wanted every public worker out there to know we won."
Arthur will continue to teach at Meadowlark Elementary School in Salt Lake City, which is close enough to the Capitol that he plans to greet his students each morning during the 45-day legislative session before doing his work as a lawmaker. In the 13 years he has taught there, Arthur said the school has turned after ranking toward the bottom of the state in test scores.
He said he hopes to use his legislative service to inspire students, saying he plans to take his class to the Capitol before the session starts on Jan. 20.
"We're going to let them know that they can do this, too," he said. "And my goal is that one day, when one of them becomes governor or president, they'll give me a shoutout in their inauguration speech."
