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Gene Kennedy Reporting The state of Utah was pushing for another Congressional seat. But hope for that has died, at least for now.
There are three Congressional districts in Utah. After the 2000 Census and an increase in the population, political leaders felt we should have another representative in Washington, D.C.
But now it appears lawmakers will not even vote on the issue. The bill to make this happen never even made it on the U.S. House of Representatives calender.
It's possible Congress is just swamped with other bills and lawmakers didn't feel this was a top priority. Whatever the reason, with just days left in the Republican-controlled Congress, lawmakers are not going to vote on this.
Senator Bob Bennett is disappointed, calling this end-of-the-session and post-election politics. Governor Huntsman is disappointed too, but says the state will keep pushing for a fourth Congressional seat.
Utah leaders said the government should have counted 11-thousand residents who were on missions for the LDS Church.
But the bill's sponsors say all this work was not in vain. They'll keep pushing. The sponsors plan on re-introducing the bill to Congress in January of 2007.
