The Utah State Legislature met in emergency session this week with a simple goal: to take power away from the people. By putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November, lawmakers hope voters will help them undermine the Utah Supreme Court’s decision to reaffirm and clarify the limits of the Legislature’s power over the people’s right to change and reform our government.
We have reached this conclusion by carefully observing the last-minute actions of our legislators and by carefully reading the Court’s opinion on the essence of this issue.
In 2018, Utahns passed a citizen initiative, Proposition 4, which created an independent commission to draw political district boundaries to prevent gerrymandering. The Utah Legislature then ignored the voters’ decision and essentially repealed Proposition 4, replacing it with its own redistricting process.
Citizen initiatives are rare in Utah, in part because the signature requirement (at least 8% of registered voters in Utah) is high, making it difficult to get an initiative on the ballot. Since 1954, only seven initiatives have passed.
Politicians will always find it difficult to draw bipartisan district lines fairly. The temptation to abuse power when they stand to gain or lose personally by making these decisions is too great. To counteract this, after Proposition 4 was repealed, Mormon Women for Ethical Government, the League of Women Voters, and a bipartisan group of individuals made the bold decision to challenge the Legislature’s repeal of Proposition 4.
As a result of this litigation, the Utah Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling that adopted a considered and limited interpretation of the Utah Constitution and opened the door to the restoration of Citizens’ Proposition 4. This ruling applied to a limited number of initiatives, particularly those that reform government. Even then, the court allowed legislative changes to such initiatives—with the caveat that if the legislature does so in a way that impedes the purpose of the initiative, it must do so carefully and narrowly, and with compelling justification.
However, Parliament disagreed with the ruling and called an emergency session this week to hastily introduce a constitutional amendment that would allow Parliament to change all electoral initiatives, thereby defying the will of the people.
As leaders of Mormon Women for Ethical Government, we represent a true, bipartisan grassroots coalition of citizens—earlier this year, our membership was 40% Republican, 34% Democrat, and 26% non-affiliated/independent/third party. As we speak to Utahns across the state, including many prominent community and political leaders, we are regularly pulled aside by people from across the political spectrum who whisper their support for the fair redistricting lawsuit and our work to elevate the people’s voice. When we ask them if they are willing to share that support publicly or directly with legislators, they often express either fear of the backlash that would come directly from the legislature if they did so, or cynicism about whether they would truly be heard.
This week’s emergency session shows that these concerns are not unfounded. When challenged, the Legislature has shown a willingness to remove any limits on its power. It should be deeply troubling to know that citizens of our state from all political camps feel their elected officials can abuse their power to intimidate them and discourage them from political participation, and that well-considered voter letters are dismissed as influenced by activist groups with out-of-state interests.
The emergency session of Parliament only underlined this dynamic:
- The legislature rushed the process, reportedly using its power to call an “emergency session.” The Utah State Constitution provides for such a session in “the event of prolonged financial crisis, war, natural disaster, or emergency in the affairs of the State.”
- The text of the constitutional amendment was only available for inspection by citizens on the evening before the meeting.
- At the only public hearing on the issue, opponents were given a total of three minutes to make statements, although dozens of citizens were present in both the committee room and four other rooms to make opposing statements.
- The sponsors and supporters of this constitutional amendment used carefully chosen rhetoric to distract voters from the facts: If passed, this amendment will limit the actual power of voter initiatives and increase the power of the legislature to overturn, amend, or repeal initiatives, as was done with Proposition 4.
- The change would have retroactive effect, meaning that all previous citizens’ initiatives that were adopted by referendum could be repealed by Parliament.
The constitutional right of Utahns to reform or change our government is consistent with the very goals of our democracy and the system of checks and balances of power – that the voices of the people are heard in the halls of government and that we can check the power of our representatives. Utah’s lawmakers claim to listen to and protect the voice of the people, but their actions, particularly over the last week, have spoken much more clearly.
Emma Petty Addams lives in Salt Lake City and is co-executive director of Mormon Women for Ethical Government. Anne Bentley Waddoups, Ph.D., lives in Logan and is advocacy director of Mormon Women for Ethical Government.
