Utah lawmakers are scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon when a Republican supermajority is expected to approve a constitutional amendment undoing a recent Utah Supreme Court ruling that limited the Legislature’s ability to amend or repeal citizen ballot initiatives.
The amendment, which had not been published as of Tuesday evening but was obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune, would add language to the Utah Constitution that clarifies that “the people’s exercise of their legislative power … does not limit or preclude the exercise of legislative power, including through amending, enacting or repealing a law, by the Legislature or a law making body of a county, city or town, on behalf of the people whom they are elected to represent.”
If it passes and is approved by a majority of voters in November, it would give the Legislature the power to significantly rewrite voter-approved ballot initiatives — as they did with two 2018 ballot initiatives legalizing medical marijuana and another expanding health coverage to low-income Utahns through Medicaid — or undo the intent of the voters, as they did with an initiative aimed at prohibiting partisan gerrymandering.
In 2018, a majority of Utah voters approved Proposition 4, a ballot initiative that created an independent redistricting commission and prohibited partisan gerrymandering. Then, in the 2020 legislative session, lawmakers passed SB200, which changed the law and stripped out the ban on partisan gerrymandering. Lawmakers later passed congressional maps that split Salt Lake County — the most liberal part of the state — into four congressional districts.
The League of Women Voters, Mormon Women for Ethical Government and several individuals impacted by the maps sued, saying that splitting the county diluted the liberal vote, effectively denying them a voice in Congress.
Additionally, plaintiffs argued that the passage of SB200 effectively usurped the will of the people and deprived voters of their right to pass laws by ballot initiative.
The justices agreed, basing their decision on language in the Utah Constitution that states, “All political power is inherent in the people … and they have the right to alter or reform their government as the public welfare may require.”
Their ruling was unanimous, with all five Republican-appointed justices agreeing that voter initiatives that reform government are entitled to deference from the Legislature.
Now, lawmakers, upset at the court’s decision, are using their emergency powers to call a special legislative session to amend the Utah Constitution to undo the Utah Supreme Court’s ruling.
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