Daniel McCay

Daniel McCay is an American politician and a Republican member of the Utah Senate representing District 11. He was in the Utah House of Representatives representing District 41 from 2013 through 2018. McCay was initially appointed by Republican Governor of Utah, Gary Herbert to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Carl Wimmer.

Early life

McCay earned his BEd and MEd from Utah State University, and later earned a JD from Willamette University. McCay lives in Riverton, Utah with his wife, Tawnee, and their six young children. McCay is a Vice President at Suburban Land Reserve. Mr. McCay earned a degree in Education from Utah State University.

Political career

• 2012 Redistricted to District 41, and with incumbent Republican Representative Todd Kiser leaving the Legislature and leaving the seat open, McCay was chosen from two candidates by the Republican convention and was unopposed for the November 6, 2012 General election, winning with 13,658 votes.
• 2014 McCay was unopposed for the June 24, 2014 Republican Primary and won the November 4, 2014 General election with 6,685 votes (70.5%) against Democratic nominee Colleen Bliss.

During the 2016 legislative session, Representative McCay served on the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee, the House Education Committee, and the House Revenue and Taxation Committee. During the interim, McCay serves on the Education Interim Committee and the Revenue and Taxation Interim Committee. He also works on the Legislative Information Technology Steering Committee and the Utah Tax Review Commission. Mr. McCay is a conservative Republican.

Controversial statements regarding religion & government

Daniel McCay, caused a media controversy in early 2019 after tweeting about a coalition of faith and community leaders urging the Legislature to enact a full, voter-approved Medicaid expansion. The expansion was approved by Utah voters via Ballot Proposition 3. Proposition 3 sought to Provide Medicaid for persons under the age of 65 and with incomes equal to or below 138 percent of the federal poverty line and Increase the sales tax from 4.70 to 4.85 percent to finance the state's portion of the costs to expand Medicaid.

Suggesting an “alternative headline” to media coverage of the coalition, McCay chastised the group on February 2, 2019 for turning to the government after their religious organizations had, he said, failed to sufficiently care for the poor.

“Alternative headline, 40 faith leaders acknowledge the failure of their faith to follow Jesus’ command to care for the poor and ask the government to be Christian.”

“I’m sure none of these leaders prefers to turn to the government and wishes, like me, that our religious tenets would solve all problems,”

“I want to highlight that it is frustrating when spiritual leaders need to call on the government because our religious tenants of caring for the poor are failing, No one is so mean-spirited that they’d want anyone to be without care.

In spite of a publicly stated desire to keep religion and government separate, on June 19, 2019 McCay sponsored a bill to ban eliminate all elective abortions in Utah, citing "divine personage".

"Life is a creation that is brought to us by a divine personage, and that life should matter to everyone, We can't hide behind the words like 'choice' or 'options' or 'freedom.' "Government's job, in many ways, is to protect those who can't protect themselves and "when you're an unborn child you are the most vulnerable of all of them,"

As of June 19, 2019, He is unsure if his proposal will include exceptions for rape or incest or when the life of the mother is at stake.

Currently, Abortion remains legal in every state.

2016 Sponsored Legislation

In 2014, representative McCay floor sponsored a lot of bills. Among these bills were SB0015 Apportionment of Business Income Amendments, SB0016 Tax Credit Amendments, SB0043S01 Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention in Public Schools, SB0112 Property Tax Assessment Amount Amendments, SB0120 Property Tax Notice Amendments, SB0129 Driving Privilege Card Amendments, SB0155S05 Indigent Defense, SB0165 Public Education Appointment and Hiring, SB0176S03 Office of the State Board of Education Employment Amendments, SB0244S02 School Funding Provisions, and SB0245 Personal Property Amendments