Since 2013, the Utah Debate Commission has sponsored candidate debates in Utah for statewide and federal office. It was formed by public and private higher educational institutions and media outlets to provide Utah citizens with an independent, nonpartisan organization that sponsors televised candidate debates that are substantive, unbiased and fair. The goal was to provide citizens with a format that would inform them about candidate positions on policy issues and be free of influence from sitting officeholders.
The commission has been recognized for its professionalism and neutrality. The Commission on Presidential Debates partnered with the Utah Debate Commission to host the 2020 vice presidential debate in Salt Lake City. The commission has been copied by independent debate commissions in Washington and Ohio. It has remained independent of government interference even though the Legislature has contributed funding in recent years to help the commission fulfill its mission.
Now, however, the Legislature is going further. Some legislators want to replace the commission with one that they direct. They are adding $600,000 to the budget, which they will give to the University of Utah and Utah Valley University. But there is a catch: The money must be used by these two institutions to create a new debate committee.
Why is the Utah Legislature dictating who runs debates in the state of Utah? That task has been done effectively by an independent commission — the Utah Debate Commission — for a dozen years now. When the Legislature starts interfering in candidate debates, the debates are no longer independent of government control.
The current debate commission is run by a board consisting of representatives of eight higher education institutions in the state, not just two. All regions of the state are represented on the board. That way, each institution has a say in what the Utah Debate Commission does. The Legislature is trying to play favorites among the universities by cutting out the others as equal representatives in the debate organization process.
The Utah Debate Commission also has representatives from six television stations in the state, as well as two major newspapers — the Deseret News and the Salt Lake Tribune. Each of these representatives has an equal say in the decisions of the board.
But this action by the state Legislature cuts out these media outlets as decision-makers by giving the responsibility for organizing debates to two universities alone. Since the broadcast stations devote significant airtime to debates, and give up advertising revenue as a result, they should be at the table when decisions are made about debates. In the Utah Debate Commission, they are. Under the Legislature’s proposal, they would not be.
The meddling by the Legislature in how debates are organized in Utah raises questions about the impartiality of the debates that would be conducted under the Legislature’s mandate. Once the Legislature begins to dictate who runs debates, what is to stop them from dictating how those debates are structured — who the moderators are, what questions will be asked, and when and where debates will be held?
Debate administration is an area where the private sector operates better than government. Debates determined by government are inherently suspect because politicians have a tendency to try to tilt election-related matters in their favor. That includes debates.
The Legislature should stay out of debate administration and let the Utah Debate Commission do its job without government interference. The independence of the Utah Debate Commission has reassured Utah voters that the decisions about debate details are made by individuals who are not partisans seeking to influence the debate process to support their own party or candidate.
The Legislature’s distance from the debate process better serves the candidates, the media and the citizens of Utah. It is a mark of strength in Utah that debates are run by an organization that does not bend to partisanship or government interference. The Legislature should not undermine that role. Let’s leave the Utah Debate Commission alone, since it has worked well for Utahns for so many years and the Legislature’s involvement would be a poor substitute.