Rebecca Dawn Lockhart (November 20, 1968 – January 17, 2015) was an American politician and

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...

member of the

Utah House of Representatives The Utah House of Representatives is the lower house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The House is composed of 75 representatives elected from single member constituent districts. Each district con ...

. Lockhart represented the 64th District in Provo, Utah. Lockhart was the first female

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hunger ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

, serving until the end of 2014, when she chose not to run again.

Early life and career

Lockhart was born in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

and attended college at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

where she obtained a degree in nursing. Lockhart's husband, Stan Lockhart, served as a member of the Provo City Council and previously served as chair of the

Utah Republican Party The Utah Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party in the U.S. state of Utah. It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling all four of Utah's United States House of Representatives ...

. Stan Lockhart currently works as a lobbyist for

Micron The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer ( American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Un ...

/IM Flash Tech. The Lockharts lived together in Provo, Utah, where the couple raised their family.

Political career

Becky Lockhart served in the

for sixteen years. She announced in 2014 that she would not be seeking reelection that year, and pundits claimed that she may have been focusing her efforts on running in Utah’s 2016 Gubernatorial Election During the 2013 and 2014 legislative sessions, Lockhart served on a variety of committees, including the Executive Appropriations Committee, the House Legislative Expense Oversight Committee, the Administrative Rules Review Committee, the Legislative Management Committee, and the Legislative Audit Subcommittee. She also served on the Commission on Federalism, the Education Task Force, the Subcommittee on Oversight, and the Utah Constitutional Revision Commission.

2014 sponsored legislation

Serving as Speaker of the House, Lockhart did not file any bills under her name. In 2014 Lockhart's primary legislative project wa
HB 131S03
the Public Education Modernization Act, filed under Representative Francis Gibson.

Pivotal legislation

HB 131S03
the Public Education Modernization Act, was particularly controversial. The proposed legislation called for $200–$300 million in state funds to replace textbooks with tablet computers in the state's classrooms. The bill was essentially killed in budget negotiations. Among other projects while in the state legislature, Lockhart pushed for a radar at

Provo Municipal Airport Provo Municipal Airport is a public-use airport west of Provo, in Utah County, Utah. It is a small regional airport with domestic flights mainly to destinations in the western United States. Overview The airport has rarely had scheduled airl ...

. She also proposed a revised tax system that would greatly increase the amount of taxes levied by Utah on chewing tobacco.

HB477 Republican leadership controversy

At the close of the 2011 Utah legislative session, there was open concern expressed by one representative that, under Republican Party Leadership (who have a large majority in both houses), legislators were pressured to vote for HB477, which denied the public access to certain forms of government communication. There was vast public outcry over the bill which was hurriedly presented and passed under her, and other Republican leaders' oversight.

Death

Lockhart died at her home in Provo, Utah on January 17, 2015, from

Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD), also known as subacute spongiform encephalopathy or neurocognitive disorder due to prion disease, is an invariably fatal degenerative brain disorder. Early symptoms include memory problems, behavioral changes ...

, "an unrecoverable and extremely rare neurodegenerative brain disease". She had begun to develop signs of the condition a few weeks before her death. The illness had led to her admission to the hospital a few days after she left office.

Tribute

In 2016, the Utah House of Representatives building on Capitol Hill was named the Rebecca D. Lockhart building. In 2017 the Rebecca D. Lockhart Arena at

Utah Valley University Utah Valley University (UVU) is a public university in Orem, Utah. UVU offers master's, bachelor's, associate degrees, and certificates. Previously called Utah Valley State College, the school attained university status in July 2008. History ...

was named after Lockhart.

References

External links

Campaign siteRebecca Lockhart
at

Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in si ...

Rebecca Lockhart
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Rebecca Lockhart
at the National Institute on Money in State Politics {{DEFAULTSORT:Lockhart, Rebecca D. 1968 births 2015 deaths Latter Day Saints from Nevada Brigham Young University alumni Deaths from Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease Neurological disease deaths in Utah Infectious disease deaths in Utah Politicians from Provo, Utah Politicians from Reno, Nevada Speakers of the Utah House of Representatives Republican Party members of the Utah House of Representatives Women state legislators in Utah American nurses American women nurses 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians Women legislative speakers Latter Day Saints from Utah