However, Shultz and Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, may still have influence on it.
Currently, the task of preparing ballot titles and analysis belongs to the House speaker and the Senate president, a change made by the legislature last year. But, if the Legislature approves HB563, sponsored by Schultz, the job would move back to a more neutral party — legislative attorneys, part of a nonpartisan body. But, they would perform that duty “as counsel for the presiding officers.”
The bill was introduced on Wednesday afternoon and is waiting for a committee assignment.
Two Democrats, Senate Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, and House Minority Whip Jennifer Dailey-Provost, introduced similar bills this session without that provision. However, none of them ever left the rules committee.
Democratic representatives hadn’t reviewed the bill when it went public on Wednesday, but when Rep. Andrew Stoddard, D-Sandy, was asked about that part of the bill, he said, “anything handing it back to the (Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel) is better than what we have.”
The change comes after the anti-gerrymandering group Better Boundaries filed a successful legal challenge against Amendment D, a constitutional amendment proposition that would have allowed the Legislature to repeal or substantially modify approved ballot initiatives. However, the language printed on ballots didn’t reflect that, detractors said.
This story was originally published at UtahNewsDispatch.com.
