Michael Melendez

Michael Melendez

Executive Vice President

michael@libertas.org

Michael is the Executive Vice President, overseeing Libertas’ policy operations, including policy analysis, government affairs, and organizational strategy.

Prior to joining Libertas he was a legislative aide for a Utah state senator and the state government affairs manager for Waterford Institute, a digital education non-profit. Michael has also managed and worked on dozens of campaigns around the country, which included directing the Trafalgar Group’s nationally recognized polling operations in 2016.

Michael Melendez's Articles

In the latest mishandling of the modern-day economy, the Biden Administration announced earlier this week a draft rule that will effectively put many gig workers out of work.
Low wages and lack of no upward mobility. Sound familiar? While these are the current complaints behind the restaurant service worker shortage, they aren’t new.
Photo policing raises a tangle of ethical questions. Is it fair to ticket the owner of the car regardless of who was driving? Is it legal to use facial recognition for ticketing?
The Deseret News recently published an opinion piece advocating for the legalization of PhotoCop devices in Utah—cameras to automatically record and punish violators of the law.
In the end, we do more than just encourage legislators to pass a variety of good policies. Libertas Institute also serves as a watchdog for legislation that will negatively impact the rights and lives of Utahns
A number of changes and reductions to tax burden of Utahns made it through the Legislature in 2022, but what were they?