No, but they do modify ballot measures, because all is takes is a simple majority vote in the legislature plus the signature of the governor. Notably, all three measures passed as the ballot in 2018 (Medicaid expansion, medical marijuana, and independent redistricting) were modified by the legislature, so it’s clear that the legislature can and will try to modify ballot measures.
But advocates for Medicaid expansion and medical marijuana are far ahead of where they would have been had they not run a ballot measure campaign. One supporter of Medicaid expansion told us that a reasonable ballpark would be that they ended up with 90% of what they originally asked for, and we believe the same is true with medical marijuana.
As for independent redistricting (Better Boundaries): the legislature did totally gut this measure, but their argument is that state constitution gives the legislature the power to determine district boundaries. We’re not lawyers but we think they have a point, since Article IX, Section 1 says that “the Legislature shall divide the state into congressional, legislative, and other districts”.
Regardless of the legal and political challenges, this basic fact remains: passing our bill will show that the people of Utah want to improve air quality, promote rural economic development, and make the tax system fairer and more sustainable.
We would be delighted to see the state legislature pursue these goals as well, and we would be more than happy to work with the state legislature to achieve them. But we also believe that efforts by the state legislature to achieve these goals, or to modify our measure, will run into the problem of money: funding for air quality is popular, and funding for rural economic development is popular, and eliminating the state sales tax on grocery store food is popular, etc. All of those things cost money, so legislators seeking to modify our measure will have to answer this key question: where is the money going to come from?
In Spanish / En español:
¿No la legislatura del estado constantemente revocar medidas?
No, pero modificar las medidas de la balota. En particular, de las tres medidas como la boleta en 2018, dos de ellos: expansión de Medicaid y marihuana medicinal, fueron modificados por el legislador del 2019. Así que está claro que la legislatura puede y tratar de modificar las medidas de la balota. (Todo es toma es un voto de mayoría simple en la legislatura, más la firma del gobernador.)
Pero los defensores para la expansión de Medicaid y marihuana medicinal están muy por delante de donde habría tenidos no ejecutan una campaña de medida de la balota, y pasando la factura demostrará que el pueblo quiere de Utah para mejorar la calidad del aire, promoción el desarrollo económico rural, y que el sistema fiscal más justo y más sostenible.
Estaríamos encantados de ver a la legislatura del estado de perseguir estos objetivos, así, y estaríamos más que felices de trabajar con la legislatura del estado para alcanzarlos. Pero también creemos que los esfuerzos de la legislatura del estado para lograr estos objetivos, o para modificar a nuestra medida, topará con el problema del dinero: la financiación para la calidad del aire es popular, y financiamiento para el desarrollo económico rural es popular y eliminar el impuesto de ventas estatal en tienda de abarrotes comida es popular, etc etcetera. ¿Pero todas esas cosas cuestan dinero, así que los legisladores que buscan modificar la medida tendrá que responder a esta pregunta clave: Dónde va a provenir el dinero?