- A Utah House committee endorsed creating a secretary of state, removing election duties from the lieutenant governor.
- Rep. Lisa Shepherd said she wants to reduce the potential for conflicts of interest with the executive branch.
- The proposal would require voters to approve a constitutional amendment.
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah House committee has endorsed a plan to create a secretary of state and give election duties to that office, stripping them from the lieutenant governor.
The House Government Operations Committee on Tuesday approved both HB529, which would establish the position of the secretary of state, and HJR25, a constitutional amendment that would give voters the final say on the matter later this year.
Both measures, sponsored by Rep. Lisa Shepherd, R-Provo, will advance to the House of Representatives for consideration with just over a week and a half left in the legislative session.
"I believe there is a structural problem and inherent conflict of interest when we have elections and those duties underneath the top executive," Shepherd told the committee.
Shepherd said Utah is one of only a handful of states that give election oversight to a lieutenant governor, and most states have a secretary of state who is appointed or elected. Utah initially had a secretary of state position, but that was changed to the current system in the 1970s.
Although lieutenant governors typically appoint independent advisers to oversee elections when they are on the ballot, Shepherd and supporters of the proposal said this change would reduce the potential for conflicts of interest. Her bill would let the lieutenant governor oversee the elections for secretary of state, to avoid a conflict in those races.
"I think it does add a little bit of separation, which is good," said Rep. Paul Cutler, R-Centerville.
Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson did not attend Tuesday's hearing to speak about the bill. A request for comment from her office was not immediately returned.
Henderson has previously defended her office's role in overseeing elections, while noting that each county is ultimately responsible for running them. She has also repeatedly spoken out against election misinformation and intimidation of election workers.
The proposal to create a new secretary of state position passed out of the House committee with bipartisan support. But Rep. Sahara Hayes, D-Millcreek, who voted for it, noted she's not completely sold on it. Earlier in the hearing, she questioned whether it was a good idea to make the secretary of state a partisan office, as Shepherd's plan would do.
"I don't know if this is an idea that I fully love yet," Hayes said. "But it is, however, an idea that I am very intrigued by."
The Democrat added it was "worthy of discussion" from the entire House of Representatives.
Rep. Andrew Stoddard, D-Midvale, was the lone vote against the idea.
"I like what you're proposing, but I feel like this is such a huge shift that it would be more appropriate as an interim study where we look at every option and figure out what to do," he said.
The legislative session ends on March 6.
