Dec. 2022 | Vol. 04 Iss. 12
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SEN. JANI IWAMOTO RETIRES FROM SENATE By Shaun Delliskave | s.delliskave@mycityjournals.com
T
he first Asian-American woman elected to the Utah State Legislature, Sen. Jani Iwamoto, has decided to retire. Iwamoto, representing the Salt Lake Valley eastside suburbs of Murray, Holladay, Millcreek, and Salt Lake City’s Sugar House borough, has served in the Utah Senate since 2015. “I’ve been in public office for 12 years and have always considered it a full-time job. However, although bittersweet, I felt that now it was best to focus on my family—and specifically my elderly mother,” Iwamoto said. During her term, she was elected Assistant Minority Whip by the Democrats in the Utah Senate. Before her election to the legislature, she served on the Salt Lake County Council. “When my public service began with my election to the Salt Lake County Council in 2008, then-County Councilmember Randy Horiuchi asked, ‘Don’t you just love it?’ I remember saying that filling the post was a huge responsibility, and that I was, quite frankly, terrified,” Iwamoto said. Iwamoto passed over 26 bills, including funding the Pediatric Trauma Network and creating the American Indian-Alaska Native Health Office. “I have been privileged to work with many great stakeholders in this important realm on improving Utah’s water conservation and resiliency. A major policy that I sponsored was water banking. “Additionally, I have worked on significant law enforcement policy, including legislation I recently passed, which created minimum standards for police misconduct and reporting. I recently received the Executive Award of Merit from Utah’s Department of Public Safety for my work on multiple Sen. Jani Iwamoto stands next to Vice President Kamala Harris for Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month at The White House. Photo courtesy of Jani Iwamoto) pieces of legislation on police Continued page 9
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