Much as it may pain the members of the state’s political elite, Utah voters have some decisions to make.
There are four proposed amendments to the Utah Constitution on this year’s ballot. All represent a change to the state’s basic charter of government that the Republican supermajority of the Legislature wants but can’t have unless the voters go along.
Of the four, one seems a decent idea. Two are really bad. One seems to be, at best, a solution looking for a problem or, at worst, a step in an insurrectionist movement designed to undermine federal authority.
Say no to Amendments A and D
The worst ideas, Amendment A and Amendment D, have already been nullified by state courts because lawmakers didn’t bother to read the Constitution they were trying to alter and didn’t take the necessary steps to have them considered.
It would still be a good idea for the voters to say no to both of them, just in case legislators find a way to raise one or both from the constitutional grave.
Amendment D would allow the Legislature to disembowel initiatives approved by the people. As they did with the 2018 measure that demanded an end to partisan gerrymandering, before the Utah State Supreme Court said, as the Constitution now stands, lawmakers can’t do that.
The Utah Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Amendment D not only didn’t meet the constitutional requirement of being published in newspapers across the state 60 days before the election, but also that the wording that appeared on the ballot was misleading as to what the measure would do.
Amendment A, voided by courts for not being published in time, would remove from the Constitution the requirement that all funds raised from the state income tax go to education and services for the disabled.
Lawmakers say they need more flexibility in determining where they spend your money. But our elected leaders habitually underspend on public education, and the waiting list for services for the disabled in Utah is unconscionably long. So letting legislators divert these funds to other uses is a really bad idea.
Even though the courts have ruled that the questions are void and voting results should not be released, these things have a way of leaking out. There should be no question that both questions were defeated. Say no, and no.
Say yes to Amendment B
Amendment B is a comparatively simple and benign idea. It would raise — from 4% to 5% — the amount that can be drawn from the state’s land trust accounts to benefit public schools. That’s a $3 billion pot of money created by the lease or sale of lands the state holds in trust for education.
How much money that adds up in any given year will depend on the health of the trust and its investments. The Legislature’s own analysts say that, had the rule been in effect this year, it would have raised the allocation to public schools by some $13 million, to a total of $115 million.
Any time the Legislature wants to fiddle with school funding formulas, Utahns should be wary. But there seems to be no way this move will do anything but improve public school funding, and that it is not another scheme to move public money to private schools.
The vote on Amendment B should be yes.
Vote no on a suspicious Amendment C
Amendment C is a seemingly innocuous move to write into the Utah Constitution the requirement that all county sheriffs across the state be elected. Just as all of them are now and always have been.
What’s disquieting about it is that it comes as something called the “constitutional sheriff” movement rears its ugly head. That’s the altogether goofy idea that local elected sheriffs are the supreme law enforcement officer in every county, superior to federal law and federal agencies — like the FBI or the National Park Service.
There is no basis for such a theory. The word “sheriff” does not appear in the Constitution of the United States. If the idea behind Amendment C is to give life to such an absurd idea, then it deserves to be voted down, hard.
Even if that is not the motivation, there’s no need for Amendment C. Should the people of any county want to make their sheriff a professional hired by a county mayor or county council, rather than a politician riding partisan identity into office, there’s no reason the state should prohibit that.
Utah’s history with attorneys general should prove that elected officials are not necessarily less corrupt or more responsive to the people than appointed ones.
Say no to Amendment C.
Give Salt Lake County’s ZAP tax another 10 years
If there is such a thing as a popular tax, Salt Lake County’s Zoo, Arts and Parks Tax is it.
First imposed in 1997, it is a sales tax that adds one penny to every $10 spent on taxable retail sales in the county. Voters renewed the tax in 2004 and 2014, each time voting more than 70% in favor. Now it’s time to do it again.
The tax raises upwards of $36 million a year which goes to organizations large and small, including the Hogle Zoo and Tracy Aviary, county parks and recreation programs and arts organizations of all sorts. The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute figures those facilities and programs receive more than 11 million visits a year and create 15,000 jobs.
Salt Lake County would be a poorer place without its ZAP Tax. Vote yes to renew it for another decade.
Support Salt Lake County jail bond
Salt Lake County voters will also have their say on a proposal to issue $507 million in bonds for a project to expand the Adult Corrections Center and create other facilities for helping homeless people and those otherwise in need of guidance stay out of jail going forward.
It’s a step that’s necessary to handle both the ongoing problems with the homeless in our community and catch up to the county’s rapid population growth. It would add an estimated $59 a year to a homeowner’s property taxes.
That’s not nothing, but it is worth the cost. County voters should say yes.
And don’t forget the judges
Utah voters will also see on their ballots a long list of judges, from local benches to the Utah Supreme Court, asking if they should be retained in office.
That’s the way we do judges in Utah. To insulate them from the partisan political process, they are appointed by the governor, from a list of nominees submitted by a nonpartisan review panel, and confirmed by the state Senate. To keep them answerable to the people, those judges appear on a retention ballot every few years.
Before making these decisions, voters should take a look at judges.utah.gov/s/ for a list of all judges and a set of evaluations reported to a nonpartisan review body.
Do your democratic duty
Election Day is Nov. 5. If you are mailing your ballot, it needs to be postmarked by Nov. 4. There are early voting locations and ballot drop boxes now open around the state. And, for those who prefer to vote old school, regular polling places in Utah will be open Nov. 5, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Locations and hours are available through the state elections website and individual county clerks’ websites.
Whichever method you prefer, it is your duty to cast a ballot. Without you, democracy doesn’t work.
