Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said Monday he'll call state lawmakers into special session in the next week or so to come up with the boundaries for a new fourth seat in Congress for Utah.
 | Deseret Morning News graphic Proposed 4th DistrictRequires Adobe Acrobat. |
Legislative approval is needed before a key congressional committee will consider giving Utah the new seat. A final decision could come by the end of the year, during the "lame duck" session of Congress that begins later this week, after today's election.
Although the governor said earlier this fall he was willing to bring the Utah Legislature back to consider redrawing the state's congressional districts to include the new seat, his announcement to the Deseret Morning News surprised legislative leaders.
"Man, that's a big order to ask for," said Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, predicting that whatever lawmakers come up with won't be liked much by either party "because it will feel too rushed."
Valentine noted that a proposal the governor and lawmakers came up with earlier this year for the congressional committee generated "fierce opposition. ... Redrawing boundaries is a tough issue. It usually take us an entire session to do it."
House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, said he didn't realize, either, that the governor was ready to take action. Curtis was more optimistic that lawmakers would be able to come up with an acceptable map.
"Hopefully, we're all working together for the benefit of the state of Utah," Curtis said. "I think it would clearly have the potential of benefiting both groups (Republicans and Democrats). It doesn't need to be a partisan issue."
Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, said on KSL radio's Doug Wright Show on Monday that he believes the bill is over for now.
"I don't think it's going to happen early," Bennett said on the morning broadcast.
He compared the fourth-seat debate to a "whack-a-mole" game, in which, as one problem is solved, another problem pops up.
Bennett said there are "just enough quibbles" on the fourth-seat situation that it likely will not be finished this session. Bennett said the more time goes by, the more likely people in the state will just want to wait until the next census, anyway.
Also on Monday, Utah's lone Democrat in Congress, Rep. Jim Matheson, said he had not heard of the possible movement on the special session but that nothing has changed in his thoughts on the issue.
He said he will vote for any bill that gives Utah a fourth seat. He would not comment specifically on maps the governor has proposed because he objects to the idea of elected officials drawing the maps. He would rather have seen a special commission of some type come up with the maps, and said one could have been convened while Congress has been on recess.
"I am out of the mapmaking business," Matheson said.
Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, also has not heard any official word from the governor, said spokesman Charles Isom, and there is no set schedule yet for what will occur during the lame-duck session of Congress.
Asked about progress on the additional seat, Huntsman told the Deseret Morning News he was ready "to call a special session in the next week or so to get something finalized." Utah lawmakers are already scheduled to hold interim committee meetings Nov. 15.
The governor said he'd issue the formal call for a special session in the next few days.
Huntsman said he has been in contact with both Republicans and Democrats on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee to make sure the proposal will move forward no matter which party wins control on Tuesday.
The governor predicted the earlier attempt at drawing boundaries would be "roughly analogous to what the final map looks like" once lawmakers are finished. Time, he said, is running out.
"If we don't get it done quickly, we don't get a fourth district," Huntsman said.
The new seat in Utah is part of a compromise bill that grants a vote in the House for the District of Columbia, where residents currently do not have a voting member in the House or Senate.
A District of Columbia House seat likely would be held by a Democrat, whereas lawmakers assume the Utah seat would be won by a Republican, making it a "politically neutral" bill, according to its authors.
Huntsman unveiled a proposed four-district map in September after House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., objected to the temporary at-large status of Utah's new seat until the next census.
The House Judiciary Committee still needs to vote on the bill before it moves to the House floor for a vote, so Sensenbrenner said he would not hold a vote on the bill until the state agreed on the maps.
But even if state lawmakers could approve the maps in time, the remaining congressional schedule still could be the biggest obstacle.
Congress goes back into session Thursday, but there is no clear answer as to when it will adjourn. The outcome of today's election could change the party control of either chamber, which would affect what lawmakers want to do during the lame-duck session and alter control of congressional committees next year.
If the bill does not pass by the time Congress adjourns, it will need to be introduced at the start of the next Congress in January.
And if the state does succeed in getting Congress to approve a fourth seat for Utah in the U.S. House of Representatives, a special election would have to be held next year to fill all of the seats, not just the new one, because of the boundary changes.
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