Libertas Legislator Profiles

Name: Norman Thurston
Type: Representative
Party: Republican
District: 62
Email: normthurston@le.utah.gov
Mobile: 385-399-9658
Follow @NormThurston

Libertas Legislator Index Rankings

The following rating measures how consistently this legislator votes in support of individual liberty, private property, and free enterprise. To learn more, see the main index page.

To see the specific votes used to rank this legislator, click the link in the table above for any of the yearly percentages listed.

Sponsored Ranked Bills

This legislator was the sponsor of the following bills, which were ranked by Libertas Institute in their respective year's Legislator Index.

• HB140: Income Tax Revenue Amendments (2021)
  This bill would have required reporting when federal tax change result in an increase in state tax revenue. That revenue would have been placed in a restricted account in order to provide a future tax cut.
  
  This bill passed the House 42-27 but failed in the Senate, 8-21. Libertas supports a "yea" vote.
• HB94: Weapons Restrictions Amendments (2019)
  This bill protects the right of an intoxicated person to carry firearms under certain circumstances, including in their home for self-defense.
  
  This bill passed the House 54-14 and passed the Senate 20-6. Libertas supports a "yea" vote.
• HB226: Occupational Licensing Revisions (2019)
  This bill created an alternative pathway to licensure by allowing a person to demonstrate their competency in their chosen occupation instead of sitting through a required number of hours of school.
  
  This bill passed the House 54-13 and passed the Senate unanimously. Libertas supports a "yea" vote.
• HB19: Health Insurance Right to Shop Amendments (2018)
  This bill requires the government public employee health care provider to split the difference with somebody on their plan to finds a cheaper option for select medical services, thereby creating an incentive to shop around.
  
  This bill passed the House 51-22 and passed the Senate unanimously. Libertas supports a "yea" vote.
• HB155: Driving Under the Influence and Public Safety Revisions (2017)
  This bill lowered the legal blood alcohol concentration level from 0.08% to 0.05%, criminalizing a whole host of drivers who have not harmed another person or property.
  
  This bill passed the House 48-26 and passed the Senate 17-12. Libertas supports a "nay" vote, because according to data from the state, the average BAC level for DUI arrestees is nearly 0.15%, almost twice the existing legal limit. Lowering this limit has the effect of criminalizing people who may be unwisely driving after a drink or two, but who are not necessarily impaired nor recklessly driving.
• HB67: Allowing Guns on Buses (2016)
  Prior to this bill, a person who boarded a bus with a firearm—except for law enforcement officials and concealed weapon permit holders—was guilty of a third degree felony. This bill eliminated this penalty enhancement, making the carrying of a firearm consistent with being on other property.
  
  This bill passed in the House 59-12 and passed in the Senate 24-2. Libertas Institute supports a "yea" vote, because the right to keep and bear arms is fundamental and should not be infringed; carrying a gun on a bus should not be treated differently from carrying one on a sidewalk.

View this Representative's official legislative page.

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