SALT LAKE CITY— The conflict between state lawmakers and Gov. Gary Herbert over how to handle a potential special election to fill a congressional vacancy has sparked a proposal to limit the governor's power to call special sessions of the Legislature.

"In certain circumstances, it looks like we need to be able to call ourselves in special session," House Majority Leader Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, told the Deseret News on Friday. "The time has come for us to debate this issue."

Wilson said he plans to propose an amendment to the Utah Constitution that would take away at least some of the governor's control over special sessions. If passed by at least two-thirds of the Legislature, it would go before voters in November 2018.

Now, it's the governor who decides whether special sessions are needed between the annual 45-day general session that begins in January, and then sets not only the date lawmakers will reconvene but also their agenda.

Lawmakers have been pushing for Herbert to call them into special session to set up a process for holding a special election to fill a vacancy in the U.S. House now that Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, has said he may step down before his term ends.

That announcement could come before Memorial Day, lawmakers have said they've heard, with Chaffetz leaving office as soon as June to take a position in the private sector, believed to be with Fox News.

But the governor has said legislation isn't needed to conduct a special election. There is no specified process for such an election, although state law does say the governor "shall issue a proclamation calling an election to fill the vacancy."

Paul Edwards, the governor's deputy chief of staff, said he was not aware of Wilson's proposal.

"The Legislature has the prerogative to put forward such proposals, to enact them and to place them before the voters," Edwards said.

Herbert has suggested that involving lawmakers at this point could be seen as gaming the system since some are considering a run for the 3rd District seat, including Sen. Deidre Henderson, R-Spanish Fork.

Another potential candidate, House Speaker Greg Hughes, R-Draper, has decided against a run, said his chief of staff, Greg Hartley.

"He gave it serious consideration, but he grew tired of being the excuse for the governor and a distraction to this whole special election and special session discussion," Harley said.

Hughes "wanted to get his name out of the mix so he can do the job his colleagues elected him to do and fight for the legislative process and this clear separation of powers issue," he said.

Hartley said the speaker supports Wilson's proposal on giving lawmakers more control over special sessions.

Edwards said Hughes' decision to take himself out the race has "zero impact" on the governor's decision not to call a special session.

BYU political science professor Jessica Preece said she agrees with the governor's decision because it's important for voters "to be able to be very confident that they are free and they are fair and they are not favoring anybody."

Preece said while Hughes' announcement will help lawmakers with "the perception there's a conflict of interest," as long as there's a possibility of a House or Senate member seeking the seat, it won't go away.

"Who gets to decide how the rules play out is a really big question," Preece said. "And I think it would be problematic to have people who may be running making that decision."

Related:

State plans for special election after Chaffetz confirms he may step down before his term ends

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, confirmed Thursday he may step down before the end of his term, raising the possibility of a special election to fill his 3rd District seat in Congress.

Wilson said lawmakers "want to be concerned about public perception. But at the end of the day, we've been elected to do a job. And we have a process that needs to be defined."

Having some lawmakers eyeing the congressional seat shouldn't take the entire Legislature out of the discussion, the majority leader said, noting there was an attempt last session to pass legislation about filing a congressional vacancy.

During the 2017 Legislature, the Senate passed a bill that would have created an abbreviated version of a regular election for such situations, including allowing candidates to gather voter signatures for a spot on a primary ballot.

But the bill, which surfaced because another member of Congress, Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, was being considered for a spot in the Trump administration, stalled in the final hours of the session.

House members changed the bill to have political parties rather than primary voters nominate candidates, speeding up the process. GOP lawmakers in the House and Senate are hoping now to come up with a compromise to present to the governor.

Wilson said he has "no preconceived notion" about what that should look like but wants lawmakers to have a say in a special election.

"The principle of this is starting to frustrate me and a lot of people. I don't like being one of three states that don't have this addressed," he said. Only Utah, Idaho and North Dakota have no statutory process in place for filling congressional vacancies.

Utah is also in the minority when it comes to the ability of lawmakers to call themselves into special session, Wilson said, with 35 states having some provision for that.

"This is a division of powers issue," he said. "Legislators should be able to do what legislators are supposed to do."

However, the majority leader said he doesn't want to give lawmakers "carte blanche" to come back into session, especially on budget issues.

"There needs to be a high threshold," Wilson said.

Yet to be decided, he said, is how the process for lawmakers calling themselves into special session would work, as well as what issues would qualify for them to exercise that authority.

Jason Perry, head of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics, said it's significant that the Legislature is looking at the issue of who can call a special session.

"It changes the Constitution and it gets to the heart of one of the separation of powers issues that has been held by the governor," Perry said. "No one takes the special session lightly."

Boyd Matheson, head of the conservative-leaning Sutherland Institute, said the escalating friction between lawmakers and the governor likely won't end up impacting how voters would view a special election to replace Chaffetz.

"I don't see any battle that will rise to the scale that it will undermine the confidence of the citizens in the process. I don't think it will get to that point," Matheson said. "I think cooler heads will prevail."

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