SALT LAKE CITY — The day after the Utah State Legislature cast a controversial vote to put a constitutional amendment on citizen ballot initiatives before voters in November, groups were already lining up to campaign for it or against it.
"Next we try to convince the people that a constitutional amendment is not needed," said Katharine Biele, the president of the League of Women Voters of Utah, which is part of the original lawsuit over citizen initiatives.
Meeting in an emergency special session, the Republican supermajority of the Utah State Legislature voted to put the constitutional amendment on the November ballot. The amendment overrides a Utah Supreme Court ruling last month that declared the legislature overstepped its authority when it replaced a citizen initiative on independent redistricting with a negotiated bill.
But GOP leaders on Utah's Capitol Hill argue that the Court's ruling could open the floodgates to citizen ballot initiatives, trigger numerous legal challenges and block the legislature's power to fix problems with any initiative that does pass. The amendment reverts back to policies before the Court's ruling.
"We don't want to be like California. We want Utah to stay Utah. We're the best managed state. We don't want 20 or 30 initiatives on the ballot every year," Senate President J. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, told FOX 13 News on Thursday.
The Senate president said he would not predict how the amendment would fare, but felt it was best to give it to the public to decide and try to explain why it's necessary.
"I don't have any predetermination of what's going to happen," he said. "But I do think we have to have clarity when we have a vague decision by the Supreme Court with vague definitions. We don't know how to move forward. We need to ask for clarity. If we don't get it, we don't get it. We have no choice really than to ask."
Democrats predicted the public would vote the amendment down.
"I personally don’t think the people of Utah are going to vote away their constitutional rights to pass legislation," House Minority Whip Jennifer Dailey-Provost, D-Salt Lake City, told FOX 13 News. "I’m confident they will recognize it for what it is and it will fail."
Now that it is on the ballot, groups were already planning their campaigns for and against it. Utah Tech Leads, a political action committee formed to represent the state's booming tech sector, has said it will oppose the amendment.
"We will rally the troops and figure out what the next steps are to take," said Sunny Washington, the CEO of OrcaPanda and a member of the Utah Tech Leads board.
Washington said Utah Tech Leads' survey of its members found 84% opposed to the amendment.
"Whether you’re from tech, whether you’re from a certain party, whatever county you’re from? We want citizens to be able to retain that power and this feels very much like government overreach," she said.
The Salt Lake Chamber, the state's largest business organization, said it supported the legislature putting it on the ballot.
"To that end, we support the Utah Legislature placing a constitutional amendment before the voters that: Restores certainty, predictability and balance between legislative and initiative lawmaking processes; Upholds the integrity of democratic rights by prohibiting foreign influence, support and funds for initiatives and referendums; and Protects Utah’s best-in-class economy and avoids Utah becoming a state that is governed by unfettered, unlimited and unchangeable ballot initiatives," the group said in a statement.
President Adams said he hoped Utahns would support the amendment.
"I have confidence in the people that they'll make good decisions," he said.
The proposed constitutional amendment could impact other ballot issues. The Utah State Legislature has already placed another amendment on the November ballot that removes the earmark on the income tax for public education. If that passes, lawmakers have promised to remove the state portion of the sales tax on food. The Utah Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, is opposing that amendment.
The union had no comment Thursday on the impact this latest constitutional amendment on citizen initiatives would have on their campaign.
Depending on where Utahns live, there is also:
- A $507 million bond for public safety and homelessness in Salt Lake County
- A $730 million bond for school upgrades in Salt Lake City
- A proposed school district split in the Alpine School District in Utah County
