JOHN WRIGHT - STANDARD-EXAMINER | Posted: Wednesday, January 25, 2006 11:00 pm
Want to weigh in on school vouchers, repealing the sales tax on food, increasing the minimum wage, the teaching of evolution or other hot-button issues that come before the Utah Legislaturefi
State Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley City, introduced a proposal Wednesday that would allow the Legislature to put nonbinding public opinion questions on the ballot every two years.
During a meeting of the Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee, Mayne proposed to amend the bill so that the questions would have to be approved by two-thirds of both the House and Senate rather than just simple majorities.
"That way we can make sure what gets on is something that the Legislature feels very strongly about in getting that opinion," he said. "I do believe that there are those issues that the voters' opinion would be good for us."
The amendment passed, but Mayne asked that the bill be held after it became clear it did not have the support of a majority of committee members.
Sen. Bill Hickman, R-St. George, raised questions about whether the ballot questions would undermine the process of representative government, in which officials are elected to make decisions on behalf of constituents. Hickman said voters might not have adequate information about issues, and if legislators didn't vote according to question results, the media would portray them as "out-of-touch" with the people.
"It's a feel-good, get-the-people-involved kind of approach, and I hate to talk against that because I think the more involvement we get from the citizens the better off we are," Hickman said. "I just don't know that this is the mechanism to do it."
Sandy Peck, a representative from the League of Women Voters, told the committee the ballot questions would result in voters educating themselves more about issues.
Mayne asked the bill be held to give him time to discuss it further with committee members.
John Wright can be reached at jwright@standard.net.
SB 131: Authorization of Opinion Questions to Voters
Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley City
This bill would allow the Legislature to put public opinion questions on the ballot every two years.
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A9.