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2019 Utah legislative session
| Utah State Legislature | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Type: | State legislature |
| Term limits: | None |
| Session start: | January 28, 2019 |
| Session end: | March 14, 2019 |
| Website: | Official Legislature Page |
| Leadership | |
| Senate President: | Stuart Adams (R) |
| House Speaker: | Brad Wilson (R) |
| Majority Leader: | Senate: Evan Vickers (R) House: Francis Gibson (R) |
| Minority Leader: | Senate: Karen Mayne (D) House: Brian King (D) |
| Structure | |
| Members: | 29 (Senate), 75 (House) |
| Length of term: | 4 years (Senate), 2 years (House) |
| Authority: | Art VI, Utah Constitution |
| Salary: | $273/day + per diem |
| Elections | |
| Last election: | November 6, 2018 Senate House |
| Next election: | November 3, 2020 Senate House |
| Redistricting: | Redistricting Committee of the Utah Legislature handles redrawing boundaries |
Utah convened its legislative session on January 28, 2019, and legislators remained in session until March 14, 2019. Republicans had a veto-proof supermajority this legislative session, as they did in 2018. Following the 2018 election, Republicans had a 23-6 majority in the Senate and a 58-17 majority in the House. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Republican state government trifecta.
Click the links to read more about the 2020 state Senate and state House elections.
Click the links to read more about the 2018 state Senate and state House elections.
Partisan control in 2019
- See also: State government trifectas
Utah was one of 22 Republican trifectas at the start of 2019 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.
Utah was one of 22 state legislatures where one party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.
The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the Utah State Legislature in the 2019 legislative session.
Utah State Senate
| Party | As of January 2019 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 6 | |
| Republican Party | 23 | |
| Total | 29 | |
Between 1992 and 2018, partisan control of the Utah State Senate shifted in favor of the Republican Party. As a result of the 1992 elections, Republicans held an 18-11 majority. That Republican majority would steadily expand to a 23-6 majority in 2018. The table below shows the partisan history of the Utah State Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.
Utah State Senate election results: 1992-2018
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 11 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Republicans | 18 | 19 | 20 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 24 | 23 | 24 | 23 |
Changes in the partisan balance of the state Senate were minor between 1992 and 2018. In four elections—1998, 2000, 2002, and 2012—one of the two major parties gained two seats. Of those four elections, 1998 was the only year that Democrats made gains. Between 2010 and 2018, Republicans expanded their majority by one seat.
Utah House of Representatives
| Party | As of January 2019 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 17 | |
| Republican Party | 58 | |
| Total | 75 | |
Between 1992 and 2018, partisan control of the Utah House of Representatives shifted in favor of the Republican Party. As a result of the 1992 elections, Republicans held a 49-26 majority. That Republican majority would steadily expand to a 62-13 majority in 2016. The table below shows the partisan history of the Utah House of Representatives following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.
Utah House of Representatives election results: 1992-2018
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 26 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 24 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 22 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 17 |
| Republicans | 49 | 55 | 55 | 54 | 51 | 56 | 56 | 55 | 53 | 59 | 61 | 62 | 62 | 58 |
Most of the gains made by Republicans were the result of a few elections. Republicans gained six seats in both the 1994 and 2010 elections. The GOP picked up another five seats in the 2002 elections. Democrats' largest gains came in 2018 when they picked up four seats.
Leadership in 2019
Utah State Senate
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Utah House of Representatives
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Regular session
The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2019 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria yet in 2019. This information is provided by BillTrack50.
Standing legislative committees
A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.
At the beginning of the 2019 legislative session, there were 27 standing committees in Utah's state government, including 12 state Senate committees and 15 state House committees. There were no joint committees.
Senate committees
- Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee
- Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee
- Senate Business and Labor Committee
- Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee
- Senate Education Committee
- Senate Ethics Committee
- Senate Health and Human Services Committee
- Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee
- Senate Retirement and Independent Entities Committee
- Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee
- Senate Rules Committee
- Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee
House committees
- Government Operations Committee
- House Business and Labor Committee
- House Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee
- House Education Committee
- House Ethics Committee
- House Health and Human Services Committee
- House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee
- House Retirement and Independent Entities Committee
- House Revenue and Taxation Committee
- House Rules Committee
- Judiciary Committee
- Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee
- Political Subdivisions Committee
- Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee
- Transportation Committee
Legislatively referred constitutional amendments
In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.
The methods by which the Utah Constitution can be amended:
The Utah Constitution provides two mechanisms for amending the state's constitution— a legislative process, and a state constitutional convention. Utah requires a simple majority vote (50% plus 1) for voters to approve constitutional amendments.
Legislature
According to Article XXIII, the state Legislature can refer constitutional amendments to the ballot for voters to decide. A two-thirds majority vote in both the legislative chambers vote is required during one legislative session for the Utah State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 50 votes in the Utah House of Representatives and 20 votes in the Utah State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.
Convention
According to Section 2 of Article XXIII, a ballot question about whether to hold a convention can go on the ballot if two-thirds of the members of the Utah State Legislature vote to put it on the ballot.
Historical partisan control
Utah Party Control: 1992-2024
No Democratic trifectas • Thirty-three years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| Senate | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| House | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
See also
| Elections | Utah State Government | State Legislatures | State Politics |
|---|---|---|---|
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External links
Footnotes
