Utah lawmakers are considering several constitutional amendments this year that deal with how they run their business.
The most far reaching is changing the state's most basic law to allow, by a two-thirds vote, legislators to call themselves into a special session.Currently, only the governor can call legislators into session outside of the 45-day annual general session. He sets the agenda, and legislators can't deal with matters outside of his call.
Many state legislatures have the power to call themselves into special session and deal with anything they like.
And, if the vote in the Utah House is any indication, Utah lawmakers feel the same way. The amendment received overwhelming support in the House and now is before the Senate.
Gov. Mike Leavitt has raised concerns over whether legislators may call themselves into session one or two times a year. And considering that once called into special session, lawmakers can stay 30 days, with all the other work they do outside of the regular 45-day annual session, Utah legislators' job could become almost full time.
Democratic leaders in the House also worry that in Utah, which is heavily Republican, there could be times when Republicans hold two-thirds majorities in the House and Senate. (They have a two-thirds majority now in the House, just short of that in the Senate.)
So, if most or all of the majority party members agree, lawmakers could call themselves into session to approve measures vehemently opposed by the minority Democrats. They wouldn't have the votes to stop the special session.
While those concerns are valid, it is odd that the governor would have the right to tell another branch of government when it could meet and what it could talk about.
No one suggests, for example, that the governor or Legislature have a say in when the Utah Supreme Court should meet or what cases they could consider.
The governor certainly wouldn't like the Legislature having a say in his daily schedule and who he could meet with or talk to.
Yes, there is a concern that the Legislature would meet more often.
But by and large, most lawmakers have outside lives and jobs and commitments.
I doubt they would want to be in the Capitol three or fourth months out of the year, much less longer.
In watching the Legislature work since 1981, I have seen times when it appeared a few legislators, either retired or low-in-come or just plain out of work, were looking toward their legislative paychecks to get them through.
And so the temptation, for those, would be to call themselves into session to actually make money.
But at $100 a day (with the suggestion this year of a $20-a-day increase), lawmakers are not getting rich on their pay.
It's more likely lawmakers would call themselves into session for philosophical, not monetary, reasons.
They may not like something the governor is doing while they are out of session.
They may want to take some special action for political reasons -- like give a tax cut right before a November election or pass some law to head off a citizen initiative that may be certified to the ballot during a summer before a general election.
They may also decide to call themselves into session in June to fine-tune a budget problem that arose after they adjourned in early March before the fiscal year starts July 1.
It really comes down to a matter of trust.
And if we trust legislators to make wise decisions in January and February, it follows we should trust them to make wise decisions in other months as well.
A legislature in session more often probably only helps lobbyists, who can charge more for their fees to watch special interests for their clients.
But overall it makes sense to give legislators the same control over their state business as we give the governor and the judiciary.
If lawmakers abuse the power -- calling themselves in for one 30-day session, going out for a day or two and calling themselves back in for another 30-day session, and so on -- then certainly the public will know about it and can address that every two years at election time.
And, while Democrats may see sinister clouds on the horizon, the veto power of the governor remains, and other normal checks and balances also stay.
Just as much a concern could be the current situation -- what do lawmakers do if the governor refuses to call them into a special session when they want to come in to address one issue or another?
Now, Republicans hold most of the major offices in the state. But there could be a time when we have a Democratic governor who, for whatever reasons, refuses to call in a GOP-dominated legislature do deal with a real issue, wishing instead to wait until after an election or for some other political event that could change the lay of the land.
So while there are concerns over giving lawmakers the power to call themselves into session, the amendment should be passed by the Senate and the debate taken to citizens this November at the ballot box.
Deseret News political editor Bob Bernick Jr. may be reached by e-mail at bbjr@desnews.com