Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, addresses the chamber at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on the first day of the legislative session, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
A bill that opponents argue will make citizen ballot initiatives even harder is swiftly making its way through the 2025 Utah Legislature after Republican legislative leaders promised action to address what they call a threat to the state’s “republic.”
The Utah Senate on Friday voted 21-7 to approve SB73, a bill that would add several new requirements for Utahns to successfully place a statewide citizen initiative on the ballot for voters to consider. It would:
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Require statewide ballot initiative organizers to include in their petition application a detailed description of how the new law, if approved by voters, would be funded and whether it would require a new tax or new types of revenue.
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Require the lieutenant governor to reject the petition if he or she determines, after consulting with legislative fiscal analysts, that the funding description is inaccurate or inadequate to cover the costs of the new law.
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Require that ballot initiative sponsors cause the “entire initiative petition” to be continuously published in at least one newspaper in every county of the state where a newspaper is published for at least two months preceding the election. If they fail to do so, the question would be voided from the ballot.
On the Senate floor, all Democrats and one Republican — Sen. Dan Thatcher, R-West Valley City — voted against the bill. It now goes to the House for consideration.
It’s the first of at least two efforts spearheaded by Republican legislators this year in the wake of controversy over Amendment D — a proposed constitutional amendment that the courts voided from the Nov. 5 ballot. Had it not been voided and had voters approved it, Amendment D would have enshrined in the Utah Constitution the Legislature’s unfettered power to repeal or alter any type of ballot initiative.
Amendment D would have effectively invalidated a July 11 Utah Supreme Court interpretation of the Utah Constitution, which made clear the Legislature’s power to amend certain initiatives has limits, and the Utah Constitution protects “government reform” initiatives from being overridden by lawmakers without a compelling government interest.
The Utah Supreme Court’s ruling upset Utah’s Republican legislative leaders, who have long believed the Legislature has ultimate power over ballot initiatives. In direct reaction to that ruling, the GOP supermajority called themselves into an “emergency” special session to put Amendment D on the ballot to ask voters to change the Utah Constitution.
However, the Nov. 5 ballot language posing the question to voters — written by Utah’s top Republican legislative leaders — did not explain its effect in plain language, prompting critics to sue, claiming Amendment D’s language was “false and misleading.” They won their case.
Amendment D’s opponents also successfully argued state officials failed to meet publication requirements laid out in the Utah Constitution, which explicitly states the Legislature “shall cause” the text of constitutional amendments to be “published in at least one newspaper in every county of the state, where a newspaper is published, for two months immediately preceding the next general election.”
Now, with SB73, the bill’s sponsor Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, wants to hold ballot initiative organizers to the same constitutional publishing requirement as the Legislature for proposed constitutional amendments — which would raise the cost of ballot initiative efforts by at least $1.4 million for publication alone.
That’s according to the fiscal note of a different but related piece of legislation Fillmore is sponsoring amid Amendment D’s fallout.
Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, talks to reporters during a press conference with Senate leadership at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on the first day of the legislative session, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
SJR2 would put another proposed constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot. If voters approve it, it would require in the Utah Constitution that certain ballot initiatives must pass not just by a simple majority, but get at least 60% voter support.
That requirement would apply if the new law would entail the imposition of a new tax, the expansion or increase of an existing tax or, “for a property tax, a change to the tax rate that causes the tax rate to decrease less than it would under current law.”
In order to comply with Utah’s current constitutional publication requirements, Fillmore’s bill would cost the state about $1.4 million to publish it in newspapers across the state ahead of the 2026 general election. If SB73 passes, ballot initiative sponsors would likely be required to shoulder a similar cost.
Debate over SB73
Katie Wright, executive director of Better Boundaries — the group that successfully sought a 2018 anti-gerrymandering ballot initiative to create an independent redistricting commission, which lawmakers later replaced — issued a statement opposing Fillmore’s SB73 as it cleared the full Senate.
“The Utah State Legislature’s leadership has made clear they want to take our constitutional right to ballot initiative from us,” she said. “This bill is just another example of making the process harder and harder to make exercising that right near impossible. That’s why we oppose it.”
On the Senate floor, Democrats focused their criticisms of the bill on its requirements that ballot initiative sponsors provide detailed and accurate fiscal analysis in their application — while not having access to legislative fiscal analyst’s expertise. If they get it wrong, they could face rejection before even beginning their petition.
“I love the concept. There should be accountability and transparency of anything that’s going to be spending taxpayer’s money. But let’s not make it to the point that it’s impossible,” said Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City.
Fillmore defended his bill, saying it’s “not in any way an effort to limit the ability of citizens to engage in their constitutionally granted legislative power.”
“But it is also very important that when citizens exercise their legislative power, that they do so with their eyes wide open about what the consequences of those decisions are,” Fillmore said. He added the Legislature has a “constitutional mandate to balance the budget,” and “the citizens ought to know in advance what we’re sacrificing” for a new voter-approved law.
Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, argued against the bill, especially after Amendment D.
“This is falling on sensitive, deaf ears with the kerfuffle we just had,” she said. “I think it’s a very raw subject in my community.”
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Riebe argued SB73 would add “onerous” requirements to the ballot initiative process, and that it’s “(lawmakers) job to find the money, not their job to find the money.”
Sen. Derrin Owens, R-Fountain Green, argued in favor of the bill.
“This is not anti-initiative,” he said. “This is informed initiative.”
The Utah Supreme Court recent ruling has made clear that the Utah Legislature has limited power when it comes to altering “government reform” initiatives — but can still make changes for compelling government interests. The court case over the Legislature’s repeal and replacement of Better Boundaries’ 2018 independent redistricting commission is still ongoing, and there are still many unanswered questions about exactly how to define a “government reform” initiative.
However, Republican leaders including Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, worry that the Utah Supreme Court ruling effectively created “super laws” that the Legislature can’t change, which prompted lawmakers to pursue Amendment D. Those concerns also fed arguments in favor of Fillmore’s SB73.
“We would be well to remind ourselves in this debate why the initiative process is so problematic in the republic form of government,” said Sen. Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton. “Initiatives should be used very carefully, and only in extreme circumstances — and even in those circumstances, they are very problematic because they affect the budget.”
In an availability with reporters after passing SB73, Escamilla said Democrats should have been more “aggressive” on the Senate floor by proposing an amendment to address concerns, like perhaps allowing ballot initiative sponsors to participate in the process with the lieutenant governor’s office and legislative fiscal analysts to estimate the fiscal impact of the initiative.
Fillmore told Escamilla she made a “fair point,” and that even though the bill is already headed to the House, he’d be open to considering amending the bill.
“We want to make sure this process works well, and it’s a fair point to say, ‘Are they just going to make up a number?’” Fillmore said. “We do need to find a way to make sure that number is accurate. … There’s room for debate there.”
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