Aaron Osmond

For the 2015 session, Senator Osmond took on one of the most difficult issues of his time in the senate: education funding. Much of Utah’s education funding comes from property taxes, but the state’s property tax rate had not been adjusted since 1996, almost two decades before. Estimates indicated that inflation alone meant $90 million in losses due to this lack of change. At the same time, many school districts were not providing funding for their own students, and more than half were well below the state’s average per-pupil funding rate.

The bill Osmond proposed distributed the revenue generated by this property tax increase into existing funds (the Minimum Basic Growth Account, the Voted Levy Guarantee, the Capital Outlay Foundation Program, and the Capital Outlay Enrollment Growth Program). Districts that were most in need of funding received more of the revenue, while wealthy districts received less, thus equalizing to some degree the amount of per-pupil spending across the state. Early in the 2015 session, Osmond published a video explaining his hopes for the bill.

Also in 2015, Osmond ran a bill to alter the treatment of juvenile offenders in the criminal justice system. Among the amendments made, SB167 required new guidelines for housing convicted minors, required that the court ensure any waiver of counsel was knowing and intentional, and created a presumption that minors should not be shackled when appearing in court. Osmond felt very strongly that shackling all juvenile defendants was unnecessary and embarrassing, and ensured that such treatment would no longer be the norm.

Osmond’s SB39 in 2014 provided greater freedom for homeschool students and their parents to pursue education with more freedom than had been previously allowed by the state. The bill modified procedures for getting a student excused from public school and eliminated mandatory instructional requirements for homeschool students. This allowed the homeschool students to focus on their education rather than meeting a mandated number of hours or topics as decided by the state. Many homeschool parents saw this as a victory that allowed them the freedom to emphasize and pace their children’s education in a way best suited for them. (KSL Homeschool Relief). Osmond clarified that he believed parents should be primarily responsible for their children’s education, with the state serving in a secondary position. The bill sparked some concern that some homeschool parents would use this freedom as an excuse to not educate their children, or to do so inadequately. The bill addressed some of these concerns by requiring homeschool students to still qualify for college entrance exams or workforce readiness metrics. Additionally, if a homeschool student returns to public school, SB39 included assessment procedures to ensure proper academic placement of that student.

In his sophomore year, Osmond carried a heavier legislative load. Notable in the 2013 general session was a bill he ran that amended the state definition of assault, providing additional offenses (second and third degree assault charges) for assaulting a peace officer or military service member in uniform.

In 2013, Osmond attracted national attention when he wrote a senate blog suggesting an end to compulsory education. He argued that requiring education had unintended negative consequences in that it allowed parents to disengage from their children’s education in ways that were detrimental.

Senator Osmond wasted no time trying to make an impact on longstanding state laws. One notable bill from his freshman year as a senator was SB64, which targeted public education employment. The bill was introduced February 8, 2012, and the very next day, Osmond posted an introduction to the bill online, which stated some of the goals he was trying to achieve with the legislation.

In 2011, Osmond was elected as state senator for Utah's 10th district, formerly represented by Chris Buttars. In 2013, he attracted national attention when he called for an end to compulsory education. Senator Osmond has been affiliated with South Jordan Chamber of Commerce as the Vice Chair and the Provo City Planning Commission/Board of Adjustments. In 2014, Osmond served on the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee, Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee, the Chair of the Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee, and the Senate Education Committee. In 2015, Osmond stepped down from the Senate after considering the top post at the Utah College of Applied Technology.

Aaron and his wife Nancy are the parents of 5 children. Nancy is a Pediatric Registered Nurse by profession. Their family has lived in South Jordan since 2006.

While taking his degree, he also worked for WordPerfect and Novell for twelve years. In 2003 he joined Microsoft, where he managed a $200 million educational product line. In 2007, he started investing in real estate. During that time he served as the CEO of Real Estate Investor Education, LLC for 3 years. In April 2012, he assumed responsibility as VP of North America for Certiport, an IT Education Testing Company. Since 2014, he has been vice president of global sales, initially remaining with Certiport, before shifting in 2018 to work directly for its parent company, Pearson Clinical Assessments.

Aaron Virl Osmond (born October 31, 1969) is a former Republican member of the Utah Senate, representing the 10th district. He resigned from office December 5, 2015.