Patrice M. Arent (born February 3, 1956) is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Utah House of Representatives, representing the state's 36th house district through 2020.

Patrice M. Arent
Member of the Utah House of Representatives
from the 36th district
Assumed office
1997-2002, 2010-2020
Preceded byPhil Riesen
Succeeded byDoug Owens
Member of the Utah Senate
from the 4th district
In office
2002–2006
Succeeded byPatricia W. Jones
Personal details
Born (1956-02-03) February 3, 1956 (age 68)
Political partyDemocratic
Residence(s)Salt Lake City, Utah
EducationUniversity of Utah (BS)
Cornell Law School (JD)

Early life and career

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Arent was born February 3, 1956, in Utah. She received her B.S. from the University of Utah in 1978 and her J.D. from Cornell Law School in 1981.[1] Before becoming a member of the House of Representatives, she worked as an Assistant Attorney General in the Utah Attorney General's Office from 1989-1995.[2] She currently lives in Salt Lake City with her husband and two children.[3] She is Jewish.[4]

Political career

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Arent was elected to the Utah House of Representatives in 1996 where she has served as Democratic Whip and Assistant Democratic Whip. In 2002, because of legislative redistricting, she would have had to run against another incumbent Democratic representative to remain in her House seat. Rather than run for a fourth term in the House, Arent successfully ran to represent District 4 in the State Senate.[5] She served in the Utah Senate from 2003 through 2006.[6]

Arent was elected Democratic National Committeewoman from Utah at the 2008 State Democratic Convention.[7] She represented Utah as a "superdelegate" at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, and helped nominate Barack Obama as the Democratic candidate for President of the United States.

In 2010, she returned to public office as the Representative of District 36 in the Utah House of Representatives.[8] She was reelected in 2012 with 60% of the vote. She was reelected in 2014 with 67.8% of the vote.[9]

In 2011, the Utah Democratic Party awarded her the Eleanor Roosevelt Award.[10][11] The award was presented on October 27, 2011, at This is the Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was selected by a committee of past award winners. Past award winners include former Congresswoman Karen Shepherd and State Senator Karen Mayne.

During the 2016 legislative session, Arent served on the Executive Appropriations Committee, the Business, Economic Development, and Labor Appropriations Subcommittee, the House Government Operations Committee, and the House Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee.[12]

2016 sponsored legislation

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Bill Number Bill Title Status
HB0052S02 Office of Outdoor Recreation Amendments Governor Signed - 3/21/2016
HB0119 Straight Ticket Voting Amendments House/ filed - 3/10/2016
HB0130 Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Amendments Governor Signed - 3/29/2016
HB0158S01 Campaign Funds Restrictions for County and Local School Board Offices Governor Signed - 3/18/2016
HB0237 Income Tax Contribution for Clean Air Governor Signed - 3/21/2016
HB0267 Charitable Solicitation Act Amendments Governor Signed - 3/29/2016
HB0275 Submission of Nonbinding Opinion Questions to Voters House/ filed - 3/10/2016
HJR006 Joint Rules Resolution on Ethics Commission House/ filed - 3/10/2016

[13]

Arent passed five of the eight bills she introduced, giving her a 62.5% passage rate. She did not floor sponsor any bills during the 2016 general session.[13]

References

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  1. ^ Arent, Patrice. "University of Utah Faculty Profile". Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved September 19, 2013.
  2. ^ Biography on Project VoteSmart
  3. ^ "Patrice Arent Utah House". Archived from the original on October 24, 2010. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  4. ^ "With Utah Legislature's Mormon supermajority, is it representative of the people?". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  5. ^ "Paul Rolly: Weep for the Disenfranchised," The Salt Lake Tribune, January 22, 2011
  6. ^ Rep. Arent's official page on the Utah Legislature website
  7. ^ "Utah Democrats: Springmeyer to challenge governor," Deseret News, May 11, 2008
  8. ^ "Former Legislators Seek Return to the Hill," Deseret News, April 4, 2010
  9. ^ "Patrice Arent - Ballotpedia". ballotpedia.org. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  10. ^ Utah Amicus story on Eleanor Roosevelt Award
  11. ^ "Rep. Patrice Arent to receive Eleanor Roosevelt Award," Deseret News, Sept. 10 2011
  12. ^ "Committees". le.utah.gov. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  13. ^ a b "2016 -- Legislation(House Of Representatives)". le.utah.gov. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
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