Rebecca D. Lockhart

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Rebecca Lockhart

| image = Rebecca D. Lockhart, 2014.jpg

|office = Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives

|term_start = January 24, 2011

|term_end = January 1, 2015

|predecessor = David Clark

|successor = Greg Hughes

|state_house1 = Utah

|district1 = 64th

|term_start1 = January 1, 1999

|term_end1 = January 1, 2015

|predecessor1 = Bryon Lee Harward

|successor1 = Norm Thurston

|birth_date = {{birth date|1968|11|20}}

|birth_place = Reno, Nevada, U.S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|2015|1|17|1968|11|20}}

|death_place = Provo, Utah, U.S.

|party = Republican

|alma_mater = Brigham Young University

}}

Rebecca Dawn Lockhart{{cite web|url=http://www.uvu.edu/uwlp/docs/womenintheeconomycommissionseminar.pdf|title=Utah Women in the Economy Commission|publisher=Utah State University|page=2|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191017124345/http://www.uvu.edu/uwlp/docs/womenintheeconomycommissionseminar.pdf|archive-date=October 17, 2019|access-date=September 26, 2023|via=Wayback Machine}} (November 20, 1968 – January 17, 2015) was an American politician and Republican member of the Utah House of Representatives.{{cite web |url=

http://le.utah.gov/house2/detail.jsp?i=LOCKHRD

|title= Rebecca Lockhart| publisher= Utah House of Representatives |location= Salt Lake City, Utah |access-date= April 10, 2014}} Lockhart represented the 64th District in Provo, Utah. Lockhart was the first female Speaker of the House in Utah, serving until the end of 2014, when she chose not to run again.{{cite news | author=Bernick, Bob Jr. | title=Utah Republicans get ready for changing of guard | work=Deseret News | date=April 17, 2009 | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705297875/Utah-Republicans-get-ready-for-changing-of-guard.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017121603/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705297875/Utah-Republicans-get-ready-for-changing-of-guard.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 17, 2012 | access-date=2009-06-04}}

Early life and career

Lockhart was born in Reno, Nevada and attended college at Brigham Young University where she obtained a degree in nursing.{{cite web |url=http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=25604 |title= Vote Smart article on Lockhart |publisher= Vote Smart }}

Lockhart's husband, Stan Lockhart, served as a member of the Provo City Council{{cite news | author=Dethman, Leigh | title='Nobody' a somebody in Provo | work=Deseret Morning News | date=November 5, 2003 | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/525035940/Nobody-a-somebody-in-Provo.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017121647/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/525035940/Nobody-a-somebody-in-Provo.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 17, 2012 | access-date=2009-06-04}} and previously served as chair of the Utah Republican Party. Stan Lockhart currently works as a lobbyist for Micron/IM Flash Tech.{{cite web |url= http://le.utah.gov/house2/CofI/lockhrd.pdf |title= Conflict of Interest Form |publisher= Utah House of Representatives |location= Salt Lake City, Utah |access-date= April 15, 2014}} The Lockharts lived together in Provo, Utah, where the couple raised their family.

Political career

Becky Lockhart served in the Utah House of Representatives for sixteen years. She announced in 2014 that she would not be seeking reelection that year, and pundits claimed that she may have been focusing her efforts on running in the 2016 Utah gubernatorial election.{{cite web |url= http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/legislature/lockhart-bids-farewell-to-legislature/article_c36519fb-5cea-5893-ac75-e327317a9bb6.html |title= Lockhart bids farewell to Legislature|publisher= Daily Herald |location= Salt Lake City, Utah |access-date= April 15, 2014}}

During the 2013 and 2014 legislative sessions, Lockhart served on a variety of committees, including the Executive Appropriations Committee, the House Legislative Expense Oversight Committee, the Administrative Rules Review Committee, the Legislative Management Committee, and the Legislative Audit Subcommittee. She also served on the Commission on Federalism, the Education Task Force, the Subcommittee on Oversight, and the Utah Constitutional Revision Commission.

=2014 sponsored legislation=

Serving as Speaker of the House, Lockhart did not file any bills under her name. In 2014 Lockhart's primary legislative project was [http://le.utah.gov/~2014/bills/static/HB0131.html HB 131S03], the Public Education Modernization Act, filed under Representative Francis Gibson.{{cite web |url= http://le.utah.gov/~2014/bills/static/HB0131.html |title= H.B. 131 Third Substitute Public Education Modernization Act |publisher= Utah House of Representatives |location= Salt Lake City, Utah |access-date= April 10, 2014}}

=Pivotal legislation=

[http://le.utah.gov/~2014/bills/static/HB0131.html HB 131S03], the Public Education Modernization Act, was particularly controversial. The proposed legislation called for $200–$300 million in state funds to replace textbooks with tablet computers in the state's classrooms.{{cite web |url= http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865598312/No-money-for-House-Speaker-Becky-Lockharts-education-technology-plan-in-budget.html?pg=all |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140311053533/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865598312/No-money-for-House-Speaker-Becky-Lockharts-education-technology-plan-in-budget.html?pg=all |url-status= dead |archive-date= March 11, 2014 |title= No money for House Speaker Becky Lockhart's education technology plan in budget |publisher= Deseret News |location= Salt Lake City, Utah |access-date= April 10, 2014}} The bill was essentially killed in budget negotiations.

Among other projects while in the state legislature, Lockhart pushed for a radar at Provo Municipal Airport.{{cite news | author=Riddle, Laura | title=Provo airport is moving closer to getting radar | work=Deseret Morning News | date=February 10, 2008 | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695251888,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011143205/http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695251888,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 11, 2008 | access-date=2009-06-04}} She also proposed a revised tax system that would greatly increase the amount of taxes levied by Utah on chewing tobacco.{{cite news | title=Chewing tobacco cost would rise with new tax | work=Deseret Morning News | date=February 8, 2008 | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695251345,00.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120724160558/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695251345,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=July 24, 2012 | access-date=2009-06-04}}

= HB477 Republican leadership controversy =

At the close of the 2011 Utah legislative session, there was open concern expressed by one representative that, under Republican Party Leadership (who have a large majority in both houses), legislators were pressured to vote for HB477, which denied the public access to certain forms of government communication. There was vast public outcry over the bill which was hurriedly presented and passed under her, and other Republican leaders' oversight.{{cite news | work=Deseret Morning News | date=March 14, 2011 | url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705368666/GOP-lawmaker-apologizes-for-HB477-vote-saying-he-feared-retaliation.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120731135124/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705368666/GOP-lawmaker-apologizes-for-HB477-vote-saying-he-feared-retaliation.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=July 31, 2012 | access-date=2011-03-14 |title= GOP lawmaker apologizes for HB477 vote, saying he feared retaliation }}

Death

Lockhart died at her home in Provo, Utah on January 17, 2015, from Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease,[http://www.kutv.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/BREAKING-Former-Utah-Speaker-of-the-House-Becky-Lockhart-has-died-at-age-46-68060.shtml Former Utah House Speaker Becky Lockhart, 46, dies of rare disease] "an unrecoverable and extremely rare neurodegenerative brain disease".{{cite web|url=http://fox13now.com/2015/01/17/becky-lockhart-utahs-first-female-house-speaker-dies/|title=Becky Lockhart, Utah's first female House speaker, dies|date=17 January 2015|publisher=|access-date=6 February 2017}} She had begun to develop signs of the condition a few weeks before her death. The illness had led to her admission to the hospital a few days after she left office.{{cite web|last1=Gehrke|first1=Robert|title=Becky Lockhart, history-making Utah lawmaker, dies at 46|url=http://www.sltrib.com/news/2068570-155/becky-lockhart-history-making-utah-lawmaker-dies|publisher=The Salt Lake Tribune|access-date=January 17, 2015|date=January 17, 2015}}

Tribute

In 2016, the Utah House of Representatives building on Capitol Hill was named the Rebecca D. Lockhart building. In 2017 the Rebecca D. Lockhart Arena at Utah Valley University was named after Lockhart.{{cite web|author=Katie England Daily Herald |url=http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/education/college/uvu/uvu-arena-named-after-becky-lockhart-first-female-speaker-of/article_73625104-05dc-5792-8c9d-2aab8460c19b.html |title=UVU arena named after Becky Lockhart, first female speaker of the Utah House of Representatives | Education |publisher=heraldextra.com |date=2017-01-18 |access-date=2017-01-23}}

References

External links

[http://www.beckylockhart.com/ Campaign site]
[https://votesmart.org/candidate/25604/becky-lockhart#.U08C__ldV8E Rebecca Lockhart] at Vote Smart
[http://ballotpedia.org/Rebecca_Lockhart Rebecca Lockhart] at Ballotpedia
[http://www.followthemoney.org/database/uniquecandidate.phtml?uc=4040 Rebecca Lockhart] at the National Institute on Money in State Politics

Category:1968 births

Category:2015 deaths

Category:Latter Day Saints from Nevada

Category:Brigham Young University alumni

Category:Deaths from Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease

Category:Neurological disease deaths in Utah

Category:Infectious disease deaths in Utah

Category:Politicians from Provo, Utah

Category:Politicians from Reno, Nevada

Category:Speakers of the Utah House of Representatives

Category:Republican Party members of the Utah House of Representatives

Category:Women state legislators in Utah