Members of the Utah Legislature never tire of trying to minimize the power of Utahns to govern themselves. Hardly a year, or an election, goes by without an attempt to make it more difficult for the people to use the powers promised them in the state Constitution.
This year’s swipe at the voters’ authority is called Amendment B.
It asks the voters to alter the state Constitution to say that any law passed at the polls through the initiative process will have to pass with at least 60% of the vote — not the normal 50% — if that initiative would result in new or higher taxes.
The idea is that a simple majority of the voters isn’t enough to be sure that we really, really mean it when we approve an initiative that might cost us money.
The Republican super-majority in the Legislature is apparently still steamed at the Utah electorate for passing — barely — a trifecta of initiative measures in 2018. Two of them — expanding Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act and creating a process for allowing the medical use of cannabis — did indeed raise taxes.
(The third one, which insisted that the state stop using partisan gerrymandering to draw congressional and legislative districts, did not in itself demand higher taxes. Though taxpayers have spent quite a bit fighting over the issue in court, defending it from the very Legislature it was supposed to direct.)
Lawmakers keep chipping away at the constitutionally mandated right of the people to propose and pass their own laws. They have increased the number of signatures necessary to get a measure on the ballot and imposed more requirements for public hearings.
The 60% benchmark that Amendment B would impose is, supporters basically admit, arbitrary. More than basic democracy usually works on, small enough that it might not seem ridiculously out of reach.
It is also a level of support legislators never require of themselves when they move to raise taxes. Or, more likely, to cut taxes, reducing the amount of public support for education, or anything else the people might want.
The measure also is too vague about what amounts to a tax increase. Just about any demand on government can lead to higher spending, which can mean higher taxes. The Legislature might, under this measure, kill any initiative that it can’t seem to manage without a tax hike, even if that’s not what the voters meant.
If anything, it seems that a ballot question asking people to vote away their right to vote might be something that should require an extra majority in order to pass.
Utahns, again, should not acquiesce in any legislative attempt to dilute their own political power.
Vote no on Amendment B.
Editorials represent the opinions of The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board, which operates independently from the newsroom.