For sixteen years, I’ve fought as your state senator against extremism and harmful legislation affecting working families, children, and underrepresented communities. As Minority Leader, I push for laws that benefit all Utah familes, prioritizing econimic stability, child well being, healthcare, environmental quality, and public education. My vision for Senate District 10 is a place where every family thrives and no child is left behind. I believe in the American Dream and work daily to make it a reality for All. I need your support to continue this work.
On November 4, 2008 Senator Luz Escamilla was elected to the Utah State Senate, becoming the first Latina elected in the Senate and the first immigrant to hold office in the Utah State Legislature. Since then she has dedicated herself to being the voice of the West Side, ensuring you and your family have a full seat at the table in critical decisions.
Now in her fourth term and as the Minority Leader, Senator Escamilla continues to drive successfully impactful legislative changes that benefit all Utah families. Senator Escamilla knows that working families often lack the economic luxury to engage fully in civic life. For the past 16 years, she has fought tirelessly for the working families in her district and across the state, prioritizing:
Economic Stability: Ensuring families can pay their bills, access affordable housing and better paying jobs. Supporting small businesses and bringing new businesses to our district.
Child Well-Being: Providing access to nutritious food, high-quality affordable childcare, after school programs. A comprehensive approach to the wellbeing of our children.
Affordable Healthcare and Mental Behavioral Health: Proactively finding solutions to improve and open access to Utahns for high quality affordable healthcare, leading conversations in solutions to improve mental behavioral health especially for children and youth.
Environmental Quality: Ensuring clean air for ALL Utahns and the stewardship of our environment including our precious Great Salt Lake.
Education: Defending and supporting access to high quality education for all and fighting for more resources for our students and supporting our teachers.
AND MUCH MORE!
With a Bachelors in Business Marketing and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Utah, Senator Escamilla’s professional journey is marked by extensive experience in victim advocacy, healthcare policy, state government, banking, international business and consulting. She served as the inaugural director of the State Office of Ethnic Affairs under Governor Jon Huntsman, and had a distinguished 13-year tenure at Zions Bank. Currently, she co-founded and manages ESCATEC Solutions, which enhances the use of technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and customer experience (CX) for diverse organizations domestically and abroad.
Throughout her career, Senator Escamilla has received countless awards for her distinguished work. She has been recently awarded the Community Champion Award from Neighborhood House, an Honorary Doctor Of Humane Letters from Salt Lake Community College, she was recognized as the: USCIS’ Outstanding American by Choice, YWCA of Utah Community Builder and Champion, Voices for Utah Children’s Roz McGee Children’s Champion, ASPA Distinguished Service for an Elected Official, Utah Global Diplomacy’s Taza Armstrong Pierce Citizen Diplomat, and the Utah Democratic Party’s Eleanor Roosevelt Award winner, just to mention some.
Living on the west side of Salt Lake City with her husband, Juan Carlos, and their children, Luz Escamilla embodies the values of hard work, respect for family, and dedication to community. She climbs and brings her community with her, fighting tirelessly against extremism and harmful legislation impacting underserved and underrepresented communities and hurting children- who are the future of our state. Senator Escamilla has been a relentless champion for basic rights and essential needs while standing firm against anti-DEI measures, attacks on women’s health, and threats to our democracy and our precious environment.
Her vision for the future of the west side is one where every family thrives and no child is left behind. She believes in the American Dream and works every day to make it a reality for all. Re-elect Senator Luz Escamilla and ensure that your family’s voice continues to be heard, represented, and empowered. Your family’s future is her priority, and her years in office prove it.
Living on the west side of Salt Lake City with her husband, Juan Carlos, and their children, Luz Escamilla embodies the values of hard work, respect for family, and dedication to community. She climbs and brings her community with her, fighting tirelessly against extremism and harmful legislation impacting underserved and underrepresented communities and hurting children- who are the future of our state. Senator Escamilla has been a relentless champion for basic rights and essential needs while standing firm against anti-DEI measures, attacks on women’s health, and threats to our democracy and our precious environment.
Her vision for the future of the west side is one where every family thrives and no child is left behind. She believes in the American Dream and works every day to make it a reality for all. Re-elect Senator Luz Escamilla and ensure that your family’s voice continues to be heard, represented, and empowered. Your family’s future is her priority, and her years in office prove it.
A successful businesswoman and elected official.
First elected in 2008, Senator Luz Escamilla has been a tireless advocate, an effective Democrat, and a powerful voice making progress for all Utahns.
During her time in the legislature, Luz has developed a lengthy record standing up for those historically underserved communities and all Utahns. Her efforts have extended to many areas of policy and has always been focused on the lives of everyday Utahns and their health, safety, and opportunities.
As we all adjust to life under the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s noteworthy that Luz has a longstanding record making progress on providing health care to all Utahns, particularly children as well as the uninsured and under-insured. With COVID-19, Luz will continue to work ensuring Utahns have access to the care, testing and resources they need. Her focus will remain vulnerable neighborhoods and communities as well as those essential workers on the frontlines of this pandemic.
S.B. 165 (2020): Luz sponsored this bill which required the creation of local-level emergency plans to respond to the conditions that pose a risk to the health and safety of individuals and families experiencing homelessness during this pandemic.
2020 General Session: Luz secured over $315,000 in funding for children on Medicaid.
2020 Special Session: Luz and the Utah Senate approved 14 pieces of legislation to address the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on our health care system, our economy, and our communities.
Full Medicaid Expansion rolled out in Utah in January 2020. Luz has been a strong advocate for full Medicaid expansion as a co-sponsor of S.B. 77 (2016), her advocacy for Proposition 3, and the fight against GOP efforts to repeal and replace the citizen-led proposition.
Medical Cannabis is available to patients in Utah as of March 2020. Luz has worked to protect the rights of medical cannabis patients, including her S.B. 161 (2019) that paved the way and S.C.R. 11 (2016), which urged Congress to reschedule marijuana.
Luz has made progress ensuring prenatal and postnatal care to at-risk, first-time mothers in her S.B. 161 (2018), which built on a study she passed in her S.B. 135 (2017).
Luz passed legislation ensuring vision screenings for Utah’s children before entering public schools in her S.B. 143 (2019), which built on her earlier success in ensuring eye exams for public school students in her S.B. 67 (2011)
Luz has been a longstanding supporter of reproductive rights and has always fought against efforts to curtail those rights.
Luz passed legislation to include infertility treatment (e.g. in vitro fertilization) in state health care plans – S.B. 181 (2018).
Luz has advocated for community health workers, healthcare coverage for legal immigrant children, and long-term nursing care.
The Utah Medical Association awarded Luz the “Distinguished Legislative Service Award” in 2019 for her advocacy and progress on healthcare-related issues.
We are witnessing a moment. While it may have started with George Floyd in Minneapolis, demands for justice and equality have taken hold in Utah. These are not just recent protests, they are the culmination of longstanding concerns over institutional racism, persistent discrimination, and denied opportunity. Luz has been fighting on the frontlines to fulfill America’s promises of Equality and Justice for All.
Luz worked alongside Rep. Sandra Hollins—the only black member of the Utah State Legislature—to outlaw “knee on the neck” and other chokeholds by police officers. H.B. 5007 (2020 Special Session) made it illegal for law enforcement to either use such tactics or teach them in their training.
S.B. 97 (2020): Allows the DMV to reject personalized license plates with racist, hateful or offensive messages. This was in response to the “DEPORTM” vanity plate (Trib article).
Luz along with Reps. Sandra Hollins, Angela Romero, Karen Kwan, Mark Wheatley, and Sen. Jani Iwamoto organized the Quad Caucus to stand together on issues affecting the Latinx, Black, American Indian, and Asian/Pacific Islander communities. Together, the Quad Caucus has called for reforms in law enforcement and our criminal justice system; worked on policies to address underlying inequities and institutional racism in Utah; and organized COVID-19 Response for Underserved Communities, a program to combat the pandemic in minority communities where it has had a disproportionately impact.
Luz sponsored H.C.R. 6 (2019), designating May 5 as “Missing Indigenous Women, Girls and LGBT+ Awareness Day.”
Immigrant & Refugee Community. An immigrant herself, Luz has been at the forefront on various issues affecting immigrants and refugees. Among the the battles won and lost, Luz has always sought to build bridges and has made some notable progress, including:
Luz was instrumental in finding common ground on the value-defining Utah Compact and later reaffirmed civil liberties and dignity of immigrants and refugees in S.C.R. 6 (2017), which she co-sponsored.
Luz has fought against anti-immigrant legislation and for the rights of the undocumented. Most notably, Luz’s S.B. 144 (2012) created a registration process for immigration consultants to protect immigrants from predatory notarios.
She has worked to ensure that the children of immigrants and refugees still have access to the same health care and educational opportunities as their American-born classmates.
Luz has worked to ensure that professional licensing exams are available in various languages, such as in her S.B. 74 (2017).
Women’s Rights & Equality. When women are elected, the conversation changes. Luz, along with her fellow women in the Utah State Legislature have made those conversations include issues concerning women, including:
Prior to the #MeToo Movement, Luz had been working on reforms to ensure justice for victims of sexual assault and harassment.
Luz has faced the gender pay gap and the glass ceiling in her professional career and has sought meaningful reforms to address these persistent barriers for women in the workplace, such as her efforts to eliminate gender-based wage discrimination and require paid family leave for state employees.
Luz has advocated for childcare, pre-kindergarten and after school programs to provide opportunities to children while empowering working mothers.
Luz has been a champion for reproductive rights and healthcare issues for women and families, most notably Luz’s S.B. 161 (2018) provided prenatal and postnatal care to at-risk, first-time mothers.
LGBTQ+ Community. Luz has been a strong ally to the LGBTQ+ community and has worked to make several strides forward for equality, including her efforts and voting record on:
The landmark S.B. 296 (2015) anti-discrimination bill, protecting the LGBTQ+ community from employment and housing decisions based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.
S.B. 103 (2019) provides greater enforcement of Hate Crimes, or victim targeting, directed toward any protected class, notably including members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Long supportive of removing Utah’s criminal penalties for sodomy, the U.S. Supreme Court made the decriminalization possible in Utah and Luz proudly voted for H.B. 40 (2019).
Luz introduced S.B. 161 (2017), a comprehensive bill to require schools to report, collect data, and train staff on bullying, cyber-bullying, hazing and retaliation, which included emotional harm for the first time.
H.B. 393 (2019), which required suicide prevention programs in secondary schools, specifically aimed at LGBTQ+ youth.
Luz cosponsored H.B. 371 (2019), which allows homeless youth, including LGBTQ+ youth, access to temporary shelters, care, or services without parental consent.
Homelessness. While the individual causes of homelessness differ from person to person, Luz believes we must focus on our common humanity and address homelessness in a way that respects the dignity of those individuals experiencing homelessness. These efforts have included:
Luz sponsored S.B. 165 (2020), which requires local officials to develop an emergency response plan to address conditions that pose a risk to the health or safety of homeless individuals and families, such as the current pandemic.
Luz sought to empower county governments to levy a property tax to fund poverty mitigation efforts in S.B. 164 (2020).
As a mother, Luz has worked to improve the lives of children and their educational opportunities. That priority has also led her to advocate for our teachers and schools. The progress Luz has made for our children, schools and teachers includes:
Since her first session in the Utah State Senate, Luz has worked to provide quality after school programs for students. Examples include: S.B. 125 (2016), S.B. 66 (2010), and S.B. 202 (2018).
Luz has also worked on providing better educational opportunities and social programs geared toward at-risk students and reducing gang activity and ending the school-to-prison pipeline. Examples include: S.B. 74 (2009), S.J.R. 2 (2010), and S.B. 59 (2010).
Most recently, in the 2020 special session (H.B. 5012), Luz along with her colleagues worked to secure a $110 million increase in the education budget (a 2.2 percent increase) and acquired $125 million in federal funds to increase connectivity and technology in schools amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Luz has also focused on student safety, notably requiring parental notification when students threaten suicide or experience bullying, cyber-bullying, harassment, hazing, or retaliation in her S.B. 134 (2013).
Much of Luz’s professional work has been assisting entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes startup, expand and develop. In the Utah State Senate, Luz has always balanced the needs of business and those of workers to drive a thriving economy that provides opportunities and benefits for her constituents.
During this pandemic, the role of essential workers has only underscored the importance of making our economy work for everyday Utahns. Here are some examples of the progress Luz has made in ensuring Utah’s economy empowers our working families and essential workers:
In the most recent 2020 Special Session, the Utah State Legislature passed 14 pieces of legislation to address the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on our health care system, our economy, and our communities. In particular, H.B. 5010 provided $62 million for unemployed individuals and businesses, which included:
$9 million in workplace training to ensure the health and safety of employees and the public;
$9 million for the Cultural Assistance Grant Program “Create in Utah,” which will assist cultural, zoological and botanical organizations;
$5 million for a Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Grant for businesses to provide PPE to their employees; and
$25 million in grant money to assist businesses devastated by the pandemic.
By striking a deal to fund an open air stadium, Luz along with Rep. Sandra Hollins passed H.B. 3002 (2016 Special Session), which saved the Utah State Fair Park.
As a person who suffers from asthma and a mother whose daughter also suffers from asthma, air quality is a personal issue for Luz. She considers stewardship of our environment to be a key responsibility each generation has to the next generation. Luz has been a leader on issues of air quality and our environment, notably involving the negative effects of the State Prison and Inland Port developments, such as the following examples:
Luz sponsored and passed legislation to penalize those who fail to meet car emission standards in H.B. 139 (2019).
On the Inland Port, Luz sponsored and passed S.B. 144 (2019) to establish and maintain monitoring facilities to measure and report the environmental impact of the development. She also established a community enhancement program to address the impacts of development and Inland Port uses on nearby communities in her S.B. 112 (2020).
Luz also negotiated the ongoing appropriation of $100,000 in S.B. 3 (2018) to fund the air quality observation project, which places monitoring systems on TRAX so air quality data can be gathered across the Salt Lake Valley.
Those men and women who serve our country in the armed forces deserve not only our praise and appreciation, they deserve the attention and consideration of our policymakers. Sadly, our veterans are often overlooked and underserved in matters of public policy. While much of Luz’s legislative work impacts veterans and their families along with many other Utahns, Luz has also advanced legislation focused on supporting our veterans. Examples include:
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Ours is a grassroots campaign. That means we rely on you to drive this campaign forward and spread the word about Luz and the progress she’s made for the people of Utah.
For Luz to win re-election, it will require the energy and efforts of individuals like you. Join Luz and you can make an impact on this campaign and on the future.
Support the campaign by signing up to volunteer using the form on this page.
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There are many ways to volunteer and once we have your contact info through this form, we’ll reach out and let you know how you can help us re-elect Luz Escamilla to the Utah State Senate!
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There are many ways you can help Luz make a difference. One of those ways is to make a donation to support Luz’s work. Click the Donate button now to make your contribution.
Empowering families with better jobs, affordable housing, and strong financial security. Supporting small businesses and attracting new opportunities.
Ensuring access to nutritious meals, affordable childcare, and enriching after-school programs for every child.
Advocating for affordable, high-quality healthcare and expanding mental health support, especially for children and youth.
Fighting for clean air and protecting the environment, including safeguarding the Great Salt Lake.
Ensuring students and teachers have the resources needed for success.
