Utah GOP lawmakers repeatedly at odds with courts in 2024
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Utah's legislature was repeatedly stymied by state judges this year, prompting Republican lawmakers to begin considering judicial reforms.
The big picture: The Utah Supreme Court handed lawmakers their first big L of the year in July, when judges unanimously rejected their arguments in support of the state's latest electoral maps.
- The legislature in 2021 threw out maps from a voter-approved redistricting commission and drew new ones that split blue-leaning Salt Lake County into four congressional districts.
- Lawmakers argued they had the power to revise the successful 2018 anti-gerrymandering ballot initiative to make the redistricting commission merely advisory.
- The court disagreed, siding with the League of Women Voters and other groups who sued last year to restore the commission's maps.
The intrigue: Lawmakers then drafted a state constitutional amendment that would have enabled them to repeal all voter-led initiatives, and placed it on November's ballot.
Yes, but: A judge voided the proposed amendment because the ballot summary failed to state that lawmakers may repeal voter-led measures, or that the amendment would reverse July's Supreme Court ruling.
The fine print: The amendment text also wasn't published in newspapers as required by Utah's constitution, the judge ruled.
- The same publication failure also voided the controversial proposed Amendment A, which would have asked voters to redirect state income tax dollars to other areas besides education.
Meanwhile: The state Supreme Court in August blocked the state's pending, near-total abortion ban, further rankling GOP lawmakers.
What we're watching: Whether lawmakers try to get Amendment D on the ballot in 2025 — or change how judges are selected.