Blog: Fairview Town Hall Recap

Statement

Last night's town hall in Fairview presented an opportunity for the citizens of Sanpete County and neighboring counties to come talk about the concerns they are having in their communities and how we might work together to solve them.

Around 150 people attended and the issues ranged from spending in Washington to immigration to the Narrows project. I heard many people voice concerns that Washington was not doing its job addressing illegal immigration into our country. They said that state legislators in Utah had tried to do something about the problem but that ultimately the federal government would have to step up enforcement. I couldn't agree more, and would add that part of the problem is how difficult it is to come to this country legally. By addressing the backlog of legal immigration we can significantly reduce the motivation to come here illegally.

People are also very concerned about spending, but understand that the federal government has made many promises it won't be able to keep. Particularly regarding entitlements, there was a good discussion on how to reform programs like Medicare, which represent the bulk of our spending over the next decade.

The truth is these programs are headed off a fiscal cliff if we don't do something now. It's not whether or not the programs will see benefit reductions, but how do we go about reforming the programs responsibly so we can keep our promises to current beneficiaries and make it solvent for those joining the programs in the future. I think we need to start addressing those issues now, even if they are not politically popular, because it is the right thing to do. We cannot wait until after the next election.

Tonight I have two more town halls in Beaver and Cedar City, and then one tomorrow in St. George. I expect to see many of the same concerns in these communities, as well as hear about the local issues on the minds of Utahns.

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