The Utah State Legislature met in an emergency session this week with one simple objective: to siphon power away from the people. By placing a constitutional amendment on November’s ballot, lawmakers are hoping voters will aid them in undermining the Utah Supreme Court’s decision to reaffirm and clarify the limits of the Legislature’s power as it relates to the people’s right to alter and reform our government.
We have come to this conclusion through careful observation of our legislators’ last-minute actions and a close reading of the court opinion at the heart of this issue.
In 2018, the people of Utah passed a citizen ballot initiative, Proposition 4, which established an independent commission to draw political boundaries in order to prevent gerrymandering. The Utah Legislature subsequently ignored the voters’ decision and essentially repealed Proposition 4, replacing it with their own redistricting process.
Citizen ballot initiatives are rare in Utah, in part because the high bar set for signatures (at least 8% of registered Utah voters) makes it difficult to get an initiative on the ballot. Only seven have passed since 1954.
It will always be difficult for politicians to draw nonpartisan district lines fairly; it invites too great a temptation to misuse power when they personally stand to lose or gain from those decisions. To act as a check, after Proposition 4 was repealed, Mormon Women for Ethical Government, the League of Women Voters and a cross-partisan group of individuals made the courageous choice to challenge the Legislature’s repeal of Proposition 4.
Arising from that litigation, a unanimous ruling by the Utah Supreme Court gave a thoughtful and limited interpretation of the Utah Constitution, opening up the door to restoring the citizens’ Proposition 4. This ruling applied to a narrow set of initiatives, specifically those that reform the government. Even then, the court allowed for legislative amendments to those types of initiatives — with the limitation that if the Legislature is going to do so in a way that impedes the initiative’s purpose, it has to do it carefully and narrowly with compelling justification.
However, the Legislature disagreed with the ruling and this week called an emergency session to introduce a rushed constitutional amendment to allow the Legislature to amend all ballot initiatives, and defy the will of the people.
As leaders of Mormon Women for Ethical Government, we represent a true grassroots, cross-partisan coalition of citizens — as of early this year, our membership makeup was 40% Republican, 34% Democrat and 26% unenrolled/independent/third party. As we speak to Utahns around the state, including many prominent community and political leaders, we are regularly pulled aside by people across the political spectrum who whisper their support for the fair districting litigation and our work lifting up the voice of the people. When we ask whether they are willing to share that support, either publicly or directly with legislators, they often express either fear at the backlash that would come directly from the Legislature if they do so or cynicism about whether they truly would be heard.
This week’s emergency session demonstrates that those concerns are not unfounded. When challenged, the Legislature has demonstrated a willingness to eliminate any restraint placed on their power. It should be deeply concerning to know that citizens in our state across the political spectrum feel their elected representatives may use their power to intimidate and discourage political participation and that thoughtful constituent letters are dismissed as being influenced by activist groups with out-of-state interests.
The Legislature’s emergency session only underscored that dynamic:
- The Legislature rushed the process, ostensibly activating their power to call an “emergency session,” which is defined in the Utah Constitution as appropriate “in case of persistent fiscal crisis, war, natural disaster, or emergency in the affairs of the state.”
- The text of the constitutional amendment was not available for citizen review until the night before the session.
- In the only public hearing on the matter, opponents were allowed a combined total of three minutes to comment, although there were dozens of citizens present to make opposing statements, both in the committee room and in four overflow rooms.
- The sponsors and supporters of this constitutional amendment used carefully chosen rhetoric to distract voters from the facts: If this amendment is passed, it will limit the effective power of voter initiatives and increase the power of the Legislature to overturn, modify or repeal initiatives as they did with Proposition 4.
- The amendment would be retroactive, so all previous citizen ballot initiatives, rigorously passed by popular vote, would be subject to legislative overturn.
The constitutional right of Utah citizens to reform or alter our government aligns with the very purposes of our democracy and with checks and balances on power — that citizens’ voices be heard in the halls of government and that we may check the power of our representatives. Utah legislators claim they want to listen to and protect the voice of the people; however, their actions over this last week in particular have spoken much louder.
Emma Petty Addams is a resident of Salt Lake City and is the co-executive director of Mormon Women for Ethical Government. Anne Bentley Waddoups, Ph.D., lives in Logan and serves as a director of advocacy at Mormon Women for Ethical Government.