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

Utah needs to take privacy much more seriously than it has in the past. State and local agencies will continue to rely on technology to improve how government works, but we should understand the risks today instead of continually repairing mistakes later.
This year, the Utah Legislature created a new tax credit scholarship program to help special needs families.
As Utah and other states begin to re-open and recover from the COVID-19 crisis, we have an opportunity to reflect on some of the potentially positive outcomes of the massive disruption on education. This is a field that has historically been slow to adapt to innovative improvements. Many have begun to rethink what education will look like once the crisis resolves.
The Utah Legislature made some substantial improvements to reduce the compliance burdens of the tangible personal property tax on small businesses.
There are quite a few bills that you might not have heard about, simply because they failed to pass or because the worst parts were amended out of the bill.
To unleash the bounds of human ingenuity and make Utah the home for the world’s best, brightest, and most innovative minds. It’s time to turn the Beehive State into the Sandbox State.