Rees Empey

Rees Empey

Senior Director of State Government Affairs

rees@libertas.org

Rees builds relationships with organizations and individuals in other states to export our policy innovations and extend our work's impact. He was born in Utah and raised in Missouri.

Before joining Libertas, he was a Criminal Justice Associate with the Utah Justice Coalition. Rees earned his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Utah State University. While pursuing his degree, he interned with the Utah State Legislature, the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee, exit polled for the 2016 election, and studied abroad in China.

Aside from engaging in politics, Rees enjoys fishing, hiking, traveling, and reading.

Rees Empey's Articles

Regulatory sandboxes are an issue that Libertas Institute has researched extensively, and we stand ready to help your state pursue this opportunity as we have with Kentucky.
Regulatory sandboxes are a solution that Libertas Institute has researched extensively, and we stand ready to help your state pursue this reform opportunity. For groups or legislators in other states looking to work on the issue, we’d love to help. 
Regulatory sandboxes are a solution that Libertas Institute has researched extensively, and we stand ready to help your state pursue this reform opportunity as we have with Ohio.
The sandbox benefits both new and existing businesses. By providing businesses — both big and small — the opportunity to innovate in all industries, it’ll be interesting to see what “next big thing” will come as a result of Arizona’s universal sandbox.
North Carolina now joins several other states that have created industry-specific sandboxes, helping innovative businesses avoid problematic and outdated regulations. 
Montana’s Frontier Institute proved instrumental in ushering both of these bills through their state legislature. As a result of Frontier’s hard work, Montana joins a handful of other states extending privacy protections to digital data and communications.