SALT LAKE CITY — A House committee voted unanimously to support a bill being personally run by House Speaker Mike Schultz to deal with who writes ballot language that appears before voters.
House Bill 563 undoes something the legislature enacted a year ago — letting legislative leadership write amendment and ballot language. But that blew up in the legislature's face when the Utah Supreme Court voided Amendment D in part because the language appearing before voters was "misleading."
"It was probably not the right way for this to, for it to be placed on the ballot. So what this bill does is it takes it back to the way it was before and has the nonpartisan legislative research attorneys write the language that is placed on the ballot," Speaker Schultz, R-Hooper, told the House Government Operations Committee on Friday.
In remarks to reporters on Thursday night, the Speaker was more blunt: "I'll own it. We made a mistake."
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The League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government sued the legislature over independent redistricting, which led to the Utah State Legislature proposing a constitutional amendment on citizen ballot initiatives. But the Utah Supreme Court ruled that the language on the ballot that voters were deciding on was "misleading."
On Friday, the two citizen groups thanked Speaker Schultz for the bill.
"The League of Women Voters and Mormon Women for Ethical Government are pleased, if surprised, that the House Speaker has agreed that ballot language should be neutral and accurate. If voters are to understand a constitutional amendment, which can only come from the legislature, it is imperative that the language and implications be understood," the citizen groups wrote in a statement to FOX 13 News.
It's not the only legislation making its way through Capitol Hill in response to the litigation. The Utah Supreme Court voided Amendment D and Amendment A in part because the legislature failed to publish notices of the constitutional amendments in newspapers as required by law. That provision of the Utah Constitution dates back to the 1800s, but there is a problem with it in 2025.
"Right now in our day and age, people don’t get their news from newspapers anymore. It’s all online," said Rep. Anthony Loubet, R-Kearns.
Newspapers in Utah do not publish daily (The Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News haven't for years). So Rep. Loubet is proposing House Joint Resolution 10, a constitutional amendment to remove the newspaper publication requirement. He warned that without it, future constitutional amendments — regardless of how someone feels about them — could be at risk of being voided.
"This is even a little bit broader," he told FOX 13 News on Friday. "It also encompasses initiatives as well. So they’ll also have an easier time getting posted."
The resolution passed unanimously in the House and is awaiting action in the Senate. A separate bill making its way through the legislature seeks to charge groups seeking to run a ballot initiative $1.4 million to cover the newspaper publication requirement.
