J. Stuart Adams


J. Stuart Adams is the Senator for the Utah State Senate's 22nd District. Adams was appointed to the Utah House of Representatives in 2002, and then to the Senate in 2009. In 2012, he was chosen to be Senate Majority Whip. In 2018, he was chosen as the Senate President.

Personal life, education, and career

Adams earned his Bachelor of Arts at the University of Utah in business finance. He is a business man by profession. Adams is married to his wife, Susan and they have four children together. In 2002, he was awarded the Business Person of the Year by the Utah State Chamber of Commerce, and as the Builder of the Year by the Northern Wasatch Home Builders Association. Adams previously served as the President of the Northern Wasatch Home Builders Association.

Political career

Adams is a former chairman of the Utah State Transportation Commission. He served as chairman of the Military Installation Development Authority. Prior to his legislative service, Adams served 9 years on the Layton City Council.
Adams served 4½ years in the Utah State House of Representatives. He commenced his service in the Senate on September 16, 2009. He was appointed to both of these positions. In 2004, Adams was named the 2004 Legislator of the Year by the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, the 2004 Legislator of the Year by the International Code Council, and 2004 Representative of the Year by the Davis County Republican Women.
In 2016, Adams served as the Majority Whip. He also served on the following committees:

2014

Legislation

2016 sponsored bills

2017 sponsored bills

Bill NumberBill TitleBill Status
Waste Management AmendmentsGovernor Signed 3/24/2017
Bail AmendmentsGovernor Signed 3/15/2017
Animal Care and Control Appreciation WeekGovernor Signed 3/14/2017
Health Education AmendmentsGovernor Signed 3/20/2017
Refinery Sales and Use Tax Exemption AmendmentsGovernor Signed 3/25/2017
Parent-time AmendmentsGovernor Signed 3/17/2017
Water Infrastructure RevisionsSenate/Filed for bills not passed 3/9/2017
Upstart AmendmentsGovernor Signed 3/28/2017
Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention ActSenate/Filed for bills not passed 3/9/2017
Energy Development AmendmentsGovernor Signed 3/28/2017
Joint Resolution Supporting Creation of Citizens Equity FundsGovernor Signed 3/16/2017

Notable legislation

During the 2016 legislative session Senator Adams sponsored high-profile legislation that deals with energy and the environment. His bill SB 246 will take public money from certain counties within the state and put it towards building a port in Oakland. The port will be used to ship coal and other products, which the state of Utah currently exports. The bill has drawn criticism from lawmakers in Oakland and environmentalist.
As described by Salt Lake Tribune journalist Robert Gehrke, Senator Adams was instrumental in obtaining a $1.4 million appropriation to overpay for software from the Utah company Qualtrics. No wrongdoing is alleged, but the appropriation was costly to the state's taxpayers. Reference: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2018/09/10/gehrke-how-provo-tech/.