Walt Brooks

Walt Brooks (born January 21, 1973) is an American politician who has served in the Utah House of Representatives from the 75th district since 2016.^[1][2] He was appointed in September 2016 to replace Representative Don Ipson, who himself was appointed to the senate to replace Senator Steve Urquhart.

Walt Brooks
Member of the Utah House of Representatives from the 75th district
Incumbent
Assumed office September 21, 2016
Preceded by	Don Ipson
Personal details
Born	(1973-01-21) January 21, 1973 (age 51) St. George, Utah
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Jennifer Brooks
Alma mater	Southern Utah University

During the 2022 General Session, Brooks served on the Infrastructure and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee; House Business and Labor Committee; House Government Operations Committee; and House Rules Committee.

Personal life and career

Walt Brooks is from St. George, living with his wife and five children in the home his great grandfather built. His family is influential in the community, with his grandfather the namesake of the local Dixie High School football stadium (Walt Brooks Stadium).^[3] He is the president of RxTrax, a software company dealing with pharmaceutical delivery services tracking.^[4]

Notable legislation

• 2022- Representative Brooks ran HB60, Vaccine Passport Amendments, which would make it unlawful for a place of public accommodation to discriminate against an individual based on the individual's immunity status.^[5] The bill was heard in the House Business and Labor Committee, ultimately receiving a favorable recommendation to move to the House floor despite several nay votes from committee members. Due to the large number of public attendees, the committee meeting required multiple overflow rooms and became one of the most heavily debated and scrutinized bill of the 2022 General Session. The bill passed the House floor with a vote of 51-23-1, and then passed the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee and Senate floor, but ultimately the bill did not make it to final passage.^[6]
• 2021- Brooks successfully ran HB60 which allows for a form of "Constitutional Carry" of a concealed firearm without a permit for adults over the age of 21 (Utah also allows adults 18-21 to carry concealed with a provisional permit, but they were not included in this legislation.)^[7]
• 2021- Brooks, who attended Dixie High School and Dixie College, was vehemently opposed to the efforts to change the name of his alma mater. Then called Dixie State University(now Utah Tech University,) He resisted the bill during the 2021 session, but the name change ultimately happened.
• 2018- HB 343 Refined some terms related to Polygamy. The bill expanded the definition of sexual abuse to include forcing someone into marriage (rather legal or cultural), and similarly changed policy about the rights of runaway children (who claim they are subject to forced marriage, or other forms of abuse.) Brooks' district is nearby Hildale, Utah where the FLDS Church has many members who practice polygamy, and the issues this bill concerns is more common.^[8]

2022 sponsored legislation

Bill	Status
HB 10- Lane Filtering Amendments	House/ to Governor 3/14/22
HB 53- Social Security Tax Amendments	House/ filed 3/4/22
HB 60- Vaccine Passport Amendments	House/ filed 3/4/22
HB 108- Vehicle Inspection Amendments	House/ to Governor 3/10/22
HB 254- Utah State Railroad Museum Authority Amendments	House/ to Governor 3/10/22
HJR 8- Joint Resolution Promoting Awareness of Motorcycling	House/ filed 3/4/2022

References

1. "Walt Brooks to run unopposed for District 75 House seat". Thespectrum.com. 2016-06-28. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
2. "Rep. Brooks, Walt". House.utah.gov. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
3. Brooks, Meli. ""Politics is a sewer…that's why we need good plumbers."". Intermountain Healthcare StoryCorps.
4. "Incumbent Brooks differs with Sullivan on guns, COVID-19 prevention in Utah House 75 race". Retrieved 2021-01-08.
5. "Utah House approves bill blocking proof of COVID-19 vaccination". 2022-02-22.
6. Schott, Bryan. ""Should businesses be able to 'discriminate' against vaccine status? Some Utah legislators want to make it illegal."". Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
7. McKellar, Katie (2021-01-02). "Will Utah become the next state to drop concealed carry permit?". Deseret News. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
8. "Utah House advances bill that would consider it sexual abuse to force young girls into polygamous marriages". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2021-01-08.