They used to jokingly be called the “home teachers,” walking the halls of Utah’s Capitol, usually in pairs, in their dark suits.
They were the government relations team for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the lobbyists for the Lord, if you will, and in a legislative body where 90% of the members belong to the faith, they carried considerable clout.
They still do, but in the past few years, the Salt Lake City-based faith has become more selective in choosing the instances to exert its influence in lawmaking.
“I didn’t see them up there this year at all,” said Gayle Ruzicka, president of the Utah Eagle Forum who frequently has worked with the church on social issues. “Maybe every year is kind of a ramping down. They don’t seem to be as involved as they have been at times.
“I was surprised,” she added, “at some of the things they haven’t been [active] up there on.”
Ruzicka is hardly alone in that assessment. Indeed, according to my discussions with legislators and lobbyists, it appears there were only two issues in which the church had any real input at all.
One was a bill that bundled together a series of changes to state liquor policies — the church teaches its members to eschew alcohol — including banning about half the hard seltzers from grocery and convenience stores.
The other was a tiny tweak to the membership of a task force to study the potential use of psilocybin mushrooms and other substances to treat mental illnesses.
The church did not weigh in, however, on some high-profile issues. For example, I was told (and a church spokesperson confirmed) that it had no involvement in the measure banning transgender athletes in high school sports.
The spokesperson acknowledged that there was “minimal involvement” from the church this session. It is unclear if that was a function of the issues before the Legislature or if it was a conscious decision to step back from the process.
Either way, it marks a departure for a church that has been the most potent political force in the Great Basin since Brigham Young’s days and has never been shy about asserting its influence on major policy issues.
Three years ago, the church was drawn into a debate over a push to ban conversion therapy for minors — a discredited practice opposed by the church of trying to change a person’s sexual orientation. In 2018, church attorneys played a key role in hammering out a rewrite of the voter-approved medical marijuana law.
In 2015, church leaders gave their blessing to a statewide anti-discrimination law, protecting LGBTQ individuals from employment and housing bias while safeguarding some religious liberties. And, in previous years it worked to liberalize immigration laws and opposed same-sex marriage.
Former Rep. Carl Wimmer, who left the church after leaving the Legislature, in 2015 compared private meetings with church lobbyists to “personal priesthood interviews” and said they used strong-arm tactics, appealing to the faith of Latter-day Saint lawmakers to persuade them to vote how they wanted.
Until 2012, it was normal for church leaders to host a lunch for legislative leaders heading into the session. There, they could discuss issues of concern for the faith.
This year, however, the church had its political focus elsewhere. Last month, it participated in a news conference supporting a nondiscrimination bill in Arizona similar to the one it helped pass in Utah. It also continues to push Congress to pass the Fairness for All Act at the federal level.
Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said he couldn’t recall the church being involved in any issues during Utah’s latest legislative session.
“I can’t tell if it’s because the issues haven’t been issues they’ve been interested in or if they’re taking a less-involved role,” he said. “We must be doing such a good job they don’t need to be involved.”
Like Adams, Connor Boyack, president of the Libertas Institute, a libertarian think tank, who was at the table with church attorneys for the medical marijuana talks, said the agenda at the Capitol was such that leaders felt like they didn’t need to weigh in — but would if it were needed.
“While it appears the church’s involvement in influencing Utah’s laws has waned in the past few years, I expect that’s mostly because there haven’t been any new hot-button issues to push them otherwise,” he said. “I anticipate they’ll be involved, either quietly or publicly, on many issues to come. After all, it’s rare for an institution with significant power not to leverage it.”
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