A bill that adds hurdles for Utahns to put voter initiatives on the ballot is making its way through the state legislature.
The Utah Senate voted 21-7 last Friday to approve SB73, which would require ballot initiative sponsors to publish the contents of their proposed law in at least one newspaper in every county in Utah for at least two months straight before election day.
The newspaper publishing requirement would be identical to the demand legislators face when they want to propose a new constitutional amendment to voters. A recent estimate puts the price of advertising an amendment in newspapers at a little over $1.4 million. This suggests that SB73 would impose the same price tag on the sponsors of a proposed ballot initiative.
The law would also require the organizers applying for a ballot initiative to include a fiscal analysis detailing how their petition would be funded. The bill also obligates the lieutenant governor to deny an initiative if they determine the petition does not accurately reflect how the proposal will be funded.
Sen. Kathleen Riebe (D-Cottonwood Heights) raised a concern on the Senate floor that a financial analysis requirement would undermine grassroots efforts by making the initiative process too burdensome.
“When I read this bill, and I see the steps we are asking people to take to exert their voice in this process, it seems like it’s becoming more onerous for them,” she said.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Lincoln Fillmore (R-South Jordan), pushed back, stating the bill adds only one more step to the initiative process. He added that he was “frankly surprised” there was disagreement over including funding information on a ballot initiative.
“Sometimes initiatives can look like sunshine and rainbows, and that’s great. People want sunshine and rainbows, but what if having sunshine and rainbows means we have to eliminate ice cream? Budgeting is always about finding room for competing, good things,” Fillmore said.
All Democratic senators and one Republican voted against SB73. It now goes to the House for a vote.
Constitutional Amendment to Change Statewide Initiatives
Fillmore also sponsored a constitutional amendment proposal, SJR2, which would require 60% approval to pass instead of a simple majority for some ballot initiatives.
Initiatives that increase taxes or create a new tax, or cause a property taxes to decrease under what is currently required by law, would need a supermajority vote.
If passed, the proposed Amendment would be presented to voters on the Nov. 2026 ballot.
Fillmore’s proposal comes after the drama-filled saga surrounding Amendment D last year.
State lawmakers held an emergency session in August to put Amendment D on the ballot in the November election. This came after the Utah Supreme Court ruled the legislator’s repeal of a voter-approved anti-gerrymandering initiative unconstitutional.
Amendment D, which would have given lawmakers the right to repeal voter-passed ballot initiatives, was later ruled void. Its wording was deemed misleading, and the legislators failed to advertise their amendment proposal in newspapers statewide.
