In Salt Lake City, a House committee unanimously supported House Bill 563, personally spearheaded by House Speaker Mike Schultz. The bill aims to address the issue of who writes ballot language that appears before voters, reversing a previous decision allowing legislative leadership to write such language, which led to the Utah Supreme Court voiding Amendment D due to misleading language. Speaker Schultz admitted the mistake and proposed to have nonpartisan legislative research attorneys write the language on the ballot. This change was praised by citizen groups like the League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government, who emphasized the importance of neutral and accurate language for voters to understand constitutional amendments.
In response to the litigation, the Utah Legislature is also addressing the newspaper publication requirement for constitutional amendments, as newspapers in Utah no longer publish daily. Rep. Anthony Loubet proposed House Joint Resolution 10 to remove this requirement, warning that future constitutional amendments could be voided without it. This resolution passed in the House and is awaiting action in the Senate. Additionally, a separate bill is seeking to charge groups seeking to run a ballot initiative $1.4 million to cover the newspaper publication requirement. These legislative actions are aimed at ensuring transparency and accuracy in the ballot language presented to voters in Utah.
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