- Utah Senate President Stuart Adams says a proposed constitutional amendment on citizen-led ballot initiatives aims to keep Utah from becoming a direct democracy.
- Adams criticizes a 2024 Supreme Court ruling limiting legislative power on overturning initiatives.
- Critics say efforts to weaken initiatives limit voters' rights to check lawmakers.
SALT LAKE CITY — The ongoing legal fight over Utah's congressional maps that has dominated headlines in recent months is shaping up to be a major issue in the upcoming legislative session.
After months of decrying court decisions that led to a new map with a Democratic district based in Salt Lake County, Republican lawmakers are planning to propose a constitutional amendment that would reassert their power to amend or repeal citizen-led ballot initiatives. A 2024 Supreme Court ruling limited the Legislature's power in cases where an initiative alters or reforms government, something many Republicans say creates a category of laws that is difficult to change once enacted.
That ruling stemmed from a lawsuit over an anti-gerrymandering initiative, but the consequences of the court's decision could have a far more dramatic impact on political life in Utah, according to Senate President Stuart Adams.
"I love our Supreme Court," the Layton Republican told the KSL and Deseret News editorial boards Tuesday. "They're well-meaning. They're doing their best to interpret our state Constitution, but for whatever reason, whether it's our state Constitution is written wrong, or they've given whatever interpretation they can, that is the worst decision in the history of my political career."
Adams said the court's interpretation of the Constitution leaves the state "stuck" with policies passed through initiative. Right now, that means Proposition 4, a 2018 initiative that created standards for drawing congressional maps and an independent commission to advise lawmakers. But Adams worries that the ruling opened the door for a slew of new initiatives that could reshape the state in ways that would be hard to change.
"That issue is about that big to me," Adams said, referring to redistricting and holding up his hand with his index finger and thumb several inches apart. He spread his arms wide and added: "The issue that they've changed our form of government from a republic to a pure democracy is this big."
He paraphrased founder John Adams, who wrote to John Taylor in 1814, saying: "There never was a democracy yet, that did not commit suicide."
Any proposed constitutional amendment would need to be approved by voters in November after being placed on the ballot by lawmakers. The Legislature tried to pass a similar amendment in 2024 in the months after the Supreme Court's ruling, but that amendment was blocked by a judge who ruled legislative leaders didn't accurately describe the amendment in the language that would appear on the ballot.
"And hopefully, we're going to get the wording right," Adams said.
Supporters of ballot initiatives have criticized efforts they say are meant to weaken the system and make it harder for Utahns to exercise their constitutional powers.
"This strips their rights," Rep. Jennifer Dailey-Provost, D-Salt Lake City, said as lawmakers considered their prior proposal for a constitutional amendment in 2024.
The specific text of the amendment hasn't been made public ahead of the 45-day legislative session, which begins Jan. 20.
