Jim Nielson

Nielson is the son of former U.S. Representative Howard Nielson.[2] He is married to Marilyn Nielson, and has 5 children. Nielson works as an Architect in Salt Lake City for Axis Architects. He received his B.A. in English at BYU, and a Masters in Architecture from the University of Oregon.[3]

He was originally elected in 2010 to fill the seat vacated by Sheryl Allen. He ran against Ben Horsley in the Republican primary[4] in 2010, and then defeated Democrat Richard Watson to gain election. He was subsequently re-elected as an incumbent in 2012, when he did not face a Republican challenger and defeated Democrat Lynn Anderson by more than a 70/30 margin.[5] In 2008 Nielson ran for Utah State Senate, but was defeated by Dan Liljenquist (who went on to win the seat) in the convention. Nielson served in the Reagan Administration in the department of Education from 1983-1988[1]

[6]

Representative Nielson did not floor sponsor any bills in the 2014 General Legislative Session.

Perhaps Nielson's most significant piece of legislation is the 2012 State Constitutional Amendment A, which passed the house by a majority and the senate unanimously. It was approved by a slight majority in November 2012. This legislation closes a loophole which the legislature had been using to spend this money each year, and requires the state to save a certain portion of severance taxes (oil and gas) in a permanent fund.[7] During the 2013 and 2014 legislative sessions, Nielson served on the Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee, the House Education Committee, and the House Revenue and Taxation Committee. During the interim, Nielson served on the Education Interim Committee and the Revenue and Taxation Interim Committee.[8]