Stuart Adams

Stuart Adams
Adams in 2022
President of the Utah Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office January 28, 2019
Preceded by	Wayne L. Niederhauser
Member of the Utah Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office September 16, 2009
Preceded by	Greg Bell
Constituency	22nd district (2009–2023) 7th district (2023–present)
Member of the Utah House of Representatives from the 16th district
In office June 19, 2002 – December 31, 2006
Preceded by	Kevin Garn
Succeeded by	Kevin Garn
Personal details
Born	1954 or 1955 (age 69–70)[1]
Political party	Republican
Education	University of Utah (BS)

J. Stuart Adams (born 1954 or 1955) is the Senator for the Utah State Senate's 7th District. Prior to redistricting he represented the 22nd District. Adams was appointed to the Utah House of Representatives in 2002, and then to the Senate in 2009. In 2012, he was chosen to be Senate Majority Whip.^[2] In 2018, he was chosen as the Senate President.

Personal life, education, and career

Adams graduated from Layton High in 1972,^[3] and earned his Bachelor of Arts at the University of Utah in business finance.^[4] He is a business man by profession.^[4] Adams is married to his wife, Susan and they have four children together.^[5] In 2002, he was awarded the Business Person of the Year by the Utah State Chamber of Commerce, and as the Builder of the Year by the Northern Wasatch Home Builders Association.^[6] Adams previously served as the President of the Northern Wasatch Home Builders Association.^[6]

Political career

Adams is a former chairman of the Utah State Transportation Commission. He served as chairman of the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA).^[6] Prior to his legislative service, Adams served 9 years on the Layton City Council.^[6]

Adams served 4½ years in the Utah State House of Representatives (June 19, 2002 – December 31, 2006). He commenced his service in the Senate on September 16, 2009.^[7] He was appointed to both of these positions.^[4] In 2004, [then Representative] Adams was named the 2004 Legislator of the Year by the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, the 2004 Legislator of the Year by the International Code Council, and 2004 Representative of the Year by the Davis County Republican Women.^[6]

In 2016, Adams served as the Majority Whip.^[4] He also served on the following committees:^[8]

• Executive Appropriations Committee
• Infrastructure and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee
• Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee
• Senate Business and Labor Committee
• Senate Transportation and Public Utilities and Technology Committee

During the 2016 legislative session, Adams sponsored high-profile legislation that deals with energy and the environment. His bill SB 246 will take public money from certain counties within the state and put it towards building a port in Oakland. The port will be used to ship coal and other products, which the state of Utah currently exports.^[9] The bill has drawn criticism from lawmakers in Oakland and environmentalists.

In September 2018 Adams was instrumental in obtaining a $1.4 million appropriation to overpay for software from the Utah company Qualtrics. No wrongdoing is alleged, but the appropriation was costly to the state's taxpayers.^[10]

COVID response

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in Utah, Adams supported legislation to stockpile the experimental medication hydroxychloroquine.^[11] Soon it emerged that Utah had purchased $800,000 worth of the drug, at vastly inflated prices, from a local pharmacy with personal connections to Adams.^[12][13][14]

In 2022, Adams, serving as the Utah Senate president, opened the 2022 general session of the 64th legislature in person, without a mask. Having contracted COVID-19 the week before, Adams said he had recovered before speaking to the Senate at the start of the session. It was later revealed that he had tested positive for COVID-19 twice that morning. Adams continued his legislative duties unmasked, conversing in close contact with fellow senators, staff and dignitaries, only masking when meeting with members of the media.^[15]

2021 congressional redistricting

In 2018 an independent redistricting commission was formed to better represent the public's voice when it came to redrawing Utah's congressional maps. A bipartisan group was formed to recommend congressional, state senate, state house, and state school board district boundaries based on public feedback and a strong focus on representation of "communities of interest."^[16] November 1, 2021, the commission delivered their 12 recommendations that were vetted through 16 public hearings across the state to the legislature. The Princeton Gerrymandering Project gave favorable reviews to the maps the council drew.^[17] The state legislature, under the leadership of Senate President Stuart, ignored the commission's recommendations and drew and approved their own maps. They divided Salt Lake County, the largest and most diverse county in the state, into the four congressional districts.^[18]

Election

2014

2014 Utah State Senate election District 22

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Stuart Adams	16,605	73.3%
	Democratic	Kip Sayre	4,417	19.5%

^[19]

Legislation

2016 sponsored bills

Bill Number	Bill Title	Bill Status
S.B. 80	Infrastructure Funding Amendments	Governor Signed 3/25/2016
S.B. 115	Sustainable Transportation and Energy Plan Act	Governor Signed 3/29/2016
S.B. 130	Tattoo Removal	Governor Signed 3/29/2016
S.B. 154	Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations	Governor Signed 3/29/2016
S.B. 161	Highway Signage Amendments	Governor Signed 3/25/2016
S.B. 203	Immunity Amendments	Governor Signed 3/22/2016
S.B. 222	Professional Licensing Amendments	Senate/Filed for bills not passed 3/10/2016
S.B. 231	Waste Management Amendments	Senate/Filed for bills not passed 3/10/2016
S.B. 246	Funding for Infrastructure Revisions	Governor Signed 3/22/2016
S.B. 251	Water Infrastructure Funding Amendments	Governor Signed 3/25/2016
S.C.R. 12	Concurrent Resolution Recognizing the Importance of Utah Sport and Olympic Legacy Efforts	Senate/Filed for bills not passed 3/10/2016
S.C.R. 19	Concurrent Resolution on Education	Governor Signed 3/22/2016

^[20]

2017 sponsored bills

Bill Number	Bill Title	Bill Status
S.B. 79	Waste Management Amendments	Governor Signed 3/24/2017
S.B. 167	Bail Amendments	Governor Signed 3/15/2017
S.B. 179	Animal Care and Control Appreciation Week	Governor Signed 3/14/2017
S.B. 196	Health Education Amendments	Governor Signed 3/20/2017
S.B. 197	Refinery Sales and Use Tax Exemption Amendments	Governor Signed 3/25/2017
S.B. 202	Parent-time Amendments	Governor Signed 3/17/2017
S.B. 228	Water Infrastructure Revisions	Senate/Filed for bills not passed 3/9/2017
S.B. 262	Upstart Amendments	Governor Signed 3/28/2017
S.B. 270	Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act	Senate/Filed for bills not passed 3/9/2017
S.B. 273	Energy Development Amendments	Governor Signed 3/28/2017
S.J.R. 13	Joint Resolution Supporting Creation of Citizens Equity Funds	Governor Signed 3/16/2017

^[21]

References

1. "'I just want to be positive,' incoming Utah Senate President Stuart Adams says". January 27, 2019.
2. Romero, McKenzie. "Utah GOP chooses legislative leadership". Deseret News, November 8, 2012. Retrieved on May 13, 2013.
3. "About Stuart". J. Stuart Adams. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
4. "Adams, J. Stuart". Salt Lake City: Utah State Senate. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
5. "J. Stuart Adams' Political Summary". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
6. "Stuart Adams: Proven Results. Clear Choice". Retrieved April 15, 2014.
7. Utah.gov. "Governor Appoints Stuart Adams to Utah State Senate". September 16, 2009. Retrieved on May 13, 2013.
8. "District 22 Senator - Utah State Senate". senate.utah.gov. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
9. "Utah Governor Signs Bill to Advance Oakland Coal Plan". KQED News. March 22, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
10. Gehrke, Robert. "Gehrke: How a Provo tech company appears to be gouging taxpayers, with help from the Utah Legislature". The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
11. Gifford, Bill (December 29, 2020). "Red State Rebellion". Mother Jones. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
12. McKellar, Katie (April 23, 2020). "Utah bought $800K in controversial drugs weeks ago but health officials didn't know". Deseret News. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
13. Harrison, Suzanne (April 24, 2020). "from:@votesuz "1253812950499901440"". Twitter. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
14. Rodgers, Bethany (April 13, 2020). "Pharmacist who's amassed malaria drugs has ear of Utah leaders about COVID-19 treatment". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
15. "Senate President Stuart Adams tested positive for COVID twice Tuesday before publicly announcing he was negative". sltrib.com/. Retrieved January 19, 2012.
16. "UIRC 2021: About the Utah Independent Redistricting Commission". Utah Independent Redistricting Commission. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
17. "Comment on the Utah Legislature's Proposed Maps". gerrymander.princeton.edu. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
18. McKellar, Katie (November 10, 2021). "Utah redistricting: Congressional map splitting Salt Lake County 4 ways heads to Gov. Spencer Cox". Deseret News. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
19. "Stuart Adams - Ballotpedia". ballotpedia.org. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
20. "2016 -- Legislation(Senate)". le.utah.gov. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
21. "2017 -- Legislation(Senate)". le.utah.gov. Retrieved August 28, 2017.

External links

• Utah State Legislature – Senator Stuart Adams Official website
• Campaign Website – Senator Stuart Adams (UT) Personal website

Political offices
Preceded by Wayne L. Niederhauser	President of the Utah Senate 2019–present	Incumbent