Governor Cox signs 3 bills from this week’s special session

Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed three bills that came out of this week’s special legislative session, including a bill placing a constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

According to the Utah State Legislature, SB4002 amends election provisions regarding a proposed constitutional amendment.

The special session was called after the Utah Supreme Court upheld the lawsuit that challenged the Utah Legislature’s redistricting boundaries, which were drawn in 2021. 

Senate Democrats called this “a blatant attempt to silence Utah voters” in a press release released after the vote was held last night.

Along with these bills, the Legislature also passed Senate Joint Resolution 401, which proposes the following:

“Provide the scope of the people’s powers to alter or reform government; prohibit foreign individuals, entities, and governments from influencing, supporting, or opposing an initiative or a referendum.”

This vote was not unanimous, however.

Utah Senators passed the bill last night with 20 votes in favor, eight votes opposing, and one absentee. After that, the House passed the resolution with 54 in favor and 21 opposing.

“As the fastest-growing state and the youngest state in The Union, Utah is positioned to become a swing state in a decade, but rather than allow the voters to decide Utah’s future for themselves, power-hungry politicians are dead-set on propping themselves up,” Utah Democratic Party Chair Diane Lewis said earlier this week.

Floor Sponsor Rep. Jordan Teuscher said, “This constitutional amendment has nothing to do with redistricting.”

Cox also passed two other bills that made it through the state Legislature, he passed SB4001 and SB4003. SB4001 is addressing the justice court’s jurisdiction and SB4003 couples with SB4002 as it was contingent on the passage of SB4002.

“The Legislature is now attempting to sidestep these protections by embedding its power into the Constitution, granting disproportionate authority to lawmakers over the will of the people,” Senate Dems said.

With the passage of the three bills and Senate Joint Resolution, these go on November’s ballot. These only go into effect if the voters pass the amendment.

https://www.abc4.com/news/politics/governor-cox-signs-bills-special-session/