Republicans Shoot Down Redistricting Reform

By Rebecca Walsh
The Salt Lake Tribune

Citing the Republican legislative supermajority as proof there is no problem with the way lawmakers draw their districts, House Government Operations Committee members Monday killed legislation to reform the state's partisan redistricting process.

Following the 2000 Census, GOP lawmakers rejiggered several legislative districts, trying to force moderate Republican and Democratic lawmakers out. Since then, Democratic lawmakers have sponsored several different versions of redistricting reform each year - including establishing a nonpartisan redistricting commission.

Taking a different approach this year, Salt Lake City Democratic Rep. Roz McGee's HB91 would require a two-thirds vote of both houses to approve a new legislative and congressional district map. In 2001, lawmakers could only muster majority support for their redistricting plan. McGee said requiring a greater number of lawmakers to sign off makes better policy, noting the Utah Constitution requires that vote margin in 11 instances and state code requires the same in 29 laws.

"It's an important benchmark we ought to apply to ourselves. I'm asking for a greater consensus," McGee said.

Sandy Peck, from the Utah League of Women Voters, told lawmakers any reform would help dispel the notion that lawmakers are rigging their re-elections.

“It’s really a conflict of interest to leave [redistricting] to the legislature. It’s expecting a lot for the legislature not to give an advantage to whichever party is in the majority at that time," Peck said. "We want voters to be able to choose their representatives and not the other way around."

But Republican lawmakers see no problem with the status quo, which lets conservative lawmakers draw political maps.

"When you look at the makeup of Democrats and Republicans in our body, I think you do see fair representation," said Draper Republican Rep. Greg Hughes. "That is the ebb and flow of what we enjoy in a democratic process."

With a vote split largely along party lines - only Kearns Republican Rep. Eric Hutchings voted for McGee's bill - the legislation died in the committee.