SALT LAKE CITY — Republican leaders in the Utah State Legislature will meet in special session to consider overruling a Utah Supreme Court ruling on citizen ballot initiatives.
Late Monday, lawmakers announced they would call themselves into a special session to advance a proposed constitutional amendment undoing the ruling by the state's top court. A unanimous court ruled last month that the legislature overstepped its bounds when it overrode a citizen ballot initiative.
"What the legislature would like to see is the voters to return it to the normal practice what’s always been," House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, told FOX 13 News in an interview late Monday.
If passed by voters in November, the amendment would:
- Prohibit foreign entities from contributing to ballot initiatives or referenda
- Ensure that voters, the legislature, and local bodies may amend or repeal legislation
- Add 20 days to collect signatures for the referendum process, extending it from 40 to 60 days.
A number of groups including the Utah Republican Party, the Sutherland Institute, Pro-Life Utah and top conservatives including GOP attorney general candidate Derek Brown, legislative candidate Nicholeen Peck and Utah Eagle Forum President Gayle Ruzicka, have been pushing legislative leaders to call a special session to advance a constitutional amendment undoing the Court's decision.
In a letter sent by the Utah Republican Party, many of the groups warn that "Utah now faces the risk of becoming like California, where large sums of outside money influence laws that do not reflect the values of our citizens and undermine our cultural integrity."
They argued the Court's ruling leaves Utah vulnerable to the "whims of special interests and fleeting majorities."
"If we do not act to mitigate the consequences of this decision, Utah’s strong community and quality of life will be severely jeopardized, impacting our future and generations to come," the letter said. "Given these exigent circumstances, we believe it is imperative that the legislature be immediately called into special session to propose a constitutional amendment. This amendment should safeguard our laws from being unduly influenced by outside groups while simultaneously respecting the role of properly balanced grassroots-led initiatives and strengthening the people's right to veto laws through a referendum process."
Speaker Schultz said he shared that view.
"We don’t want Utah to become like California," he told FOX 13 News. "This year, there’s 10 ballot initiatives on the ballot in California. With the Supreme Court’s decision, that’s what will happen. That will turn Utah into California. That’s our biggest nightmare, that’s our biggest fear."
In July, the Utah Supreme Court reversed a lower court's decision to strike a central part of a lawsuit filed by the League of Women Voters of Utah, Mormon Women for Ethical Government and a group of plaintiffs. They sued, challenging the legislature's decision to override Proposition 4, which created an independent redistricting commission for political boundaries. Lawmakers passed their own maps, which the plaintiffs argue constitutes illegal gerrymandering in favor of Republicans.
"We hold that the people's right to alter or reform the government through an initiative is constitutionally protected from government infringement, including legislative amendment, repeal or replacement of the initiative in a manner that impairs the reform enacted by the people," Justice Paige Petersen wrote in the Court's unanimous opinion. "Thus, an alleged violation of the people's exercise of these rights presents a legally cognizable claim on which relief may be granted."
At the time, Speaker Schultz and Senate President J. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, blasted the ruling as "one of the worst outcomes we’ve ever seen from the Utah Supreme Court."
"Rather than reaching the self-evident answer, today the Court punted and made a new law about the initiative power, creating chaos and striking at the very heart of our republic," they said, expressing concern about what could happen with future citizen initiatives.
Katharine Biele, the president of the League of Women Voters of Utah, told FOX 13 News she wished the Utah State Legislature would leave the Court's ruling alone.
"We couldn’t be more disappointed in our Utah politicians," she said. "They claim they are a representative government, we believe that. We believe in representation. They need to start representing the people."
Katie Wright, the executive director of Better Boundaries, which sponsored Prop. 4, told FOX 13 News that if lawmakers were to advance a constitutional amendment, a number of groups were lining up to campaign against it.
"Once the people heard what was planned? There is outrage. People feel like, 'Wait. There was a decision. It came from the Utah Supreme Court and now the legislature is trying to override that?'" she said. "It's overreach. People are uncomfortable with it. We all know that our branches of government are supposed to have balances and checks and balances and this really throws that to the wayside."
Lawmakers are calling themselves into special session under a constitutional amendment voters passed, allowing them to under "emergency" circumstances. Speaker Schultz said he believed it was an emergency because the 2026 ballot may fill up with citizen initiatives taking advantage of the ruling. FOX 13 News has previously reported on one for an open primary system and has been told others are being contemplated for abortion rights, liquor privatization and a carbon tax.
It may not be the only action the Utah legislature takes in response to the Court's decision. Speaker Schultz told FOX 13 News lawmakers are exploring moving from appointed judges — where the governor appoints them and the Utah State Senate confirms them and voters decide whether to retain — to allowing people to run for and be elected judges. He said there is also talk of term limits for Supreme Court justices.
"The voters never get a say in who becomes their Supreme Court justices or any of their judges for that matter," he said. "You look at some of the rulings coming out in Salt Lake County and other areas, let’s have that discussion about giving the voters the opportunity to elect their judges."
Read the letter from the conservative groups to the Utah State Legislature here:
