Utah State Legislature
Utah State Legislature | |
---|---|
J. Stuart Adams (R) since January 27, 2018 | |
Structure | |
Seats | 104 (29 senators, 75 representatives) |
Senate political groups | Republican (23) Democratic (6) |
House political groups | Republican (61) Democratic (13) |
Elections | |
Last Senate election | November 8, 2022 |
Last House election | November 8, 2022 |
Meeting place | |
Utah State Capitol Salt Lake City | |
Website | |
https://le.utah.gov/ |
The Utah State Legislature is the
The Legislature convenes at the Utah State Capitol in the state capital of Salt Lake City. In 2020, voters approved an amendment to the state constitution that changed the legislative start date from a constitutionally mandated fourth Monday of January to a date set by state law (thereby making it easier to change the start date if necessary). Current state law requires the start date of the Utah State Legislature to be the first Tuesday after the third Monday in January [1] for an annual 45-day session.[2]
Overview
The Utah State Legislature meets in the Utah State Capitol in
Districts
The state is divided into 29 Senate districts, each representing approximately 77,000 people and the House is divided into 75 House districts, each representing approximately 29,800 people. Senate districts overlap House districts allowing two
Terms and qualifications
Sessions
The annual General Session is held for 45 calendar days,
History
Utah Territorial Assembly
The
Following the organization of the territory,
Petitions for statehood
Utah first petitioned for statehood starting in 1849, and a constitutional convention was called to draft a State Constitution for a proposed
A third constitutional convention was held on January 20, 1862 in Salt Lake City and a proposed constitution was drafted and subsequently submitted to the U.S. Congress which rejected the petition for statehood. The Twentieth Territorial Legislature on January 31, 1872 would call for a fourth constitutional convention and again petitioned Congress for statehood yet this effort also failed and it was not until April and May 1882 that a fifth and final attempt at statehood was made prior to Congress passing the Utah Enabling Act in 1894.
The Utah Territory proceeded to hold a constitutional convention on March 4, 1895 which ended on March 6, 1895 and the proposed Constitution was ratified by the voters Tuesday, November 5, 1895. The first election was also held on this day and state officials were elected. The First Utah State Legislature convened on January 13, 1896 and proceeded to conduct the business of organizing the state.[8]
Composition of Senate
The current party composition of the Utah Senate is:
Affiliation | Members | |
---|---|---|
Republican Party | 23 | |
Democratic Party | 6 | |
Total | 29 | |
Majority | 15 |
Composition of House of Representatives
The current party composition of the Utah House is:
Affiliation | Members | |
---|---|---|
Republican Party | 58 | |
Democratic Party | 17 | |
Total | 75 | |
Majority | 38 |
Structure and organization
The Utah Legislature is a bicameral,
The members of both houses of the Utah Legislature are elected on a partisan basis, and they conduct their proceedings including the elections of leadership according to membership in a party caucus. Currently, the state of Nebraska is the only state in the United States that is elected and conducted in a nonpartisan manner.[14]
As of 2016, 88 percent of members of the Utah legislature were affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[15]
Committees and leadership
The Utah Senate elects a President of the Senate and the Utah House elects a Speaker, and each political party caucus in both houses elects party leadership including a majority leader, majority whip and assistant majority whip by the caucus with the most members in that house. The minority party caucus elects a minority leader, minority whip, assistant minority whip and includes one additional leadership position of minority caucus manager to offset the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate who are traditionally members of the majority caucus yet are elected by the entire membership of their respective bodies.[16]
Legislative committees serve an important function in the
Appropriations subcommittees
There are eight appropriations subcommittees made up of members of both the Utah House of Representatives and Utah Senate. These subcommittees are responsible for reviewing a section of the budget and requests for appropriations. At the end of this review, the subcommittees submit its portion of the budget and a recommended list of prioritized appropriations on to the Executive Appropriations Committee, which is composed of party leadership from both chambers. All alterations to the budget, including all appropriations, are approved by this committee, which are then turned into the so-called "Bill of Bills" at the end of the session.[17]
Standing committees
There are eleven Utah Senate standing committees and fifteen Utah House of Representatives standing committees. A standing committee can take the following actions on a bill after it is assigned to the committee: amend the bill, hold the bill, table the bill, return the bill to the Senate Rules Committee, substitute the bill, vote the bill out of committee with a favorable recommendation, or vote the bill out of committee with an unfavorable recommendation.[18]
Interim committees
Interim committees fulfill essentially the same functions as standing committees and are differentiated from standing committees in that they meet during the interim between legislative sessions to discuss bills, to study issues, and to recommend bills for consideration. Interim committees may take the same actions on a bill as a standing committee.[18]
Utah State Capitol
Over the years there have been many changes to the structure of the legislature, the number of Senators and Representatives, and the location of the Capitol, the Salt Lake Council Hall served as the meeting place for the Utah Territorial legislature, and in 1896 the Utah State Legislature designated Fillmore, Millard County, Utah, as the state capital.
The Fillmore Capitol was abandoned and the Utah Legislature met in Salt Lake City at various locations including The
After, being admitted to the Union as a State on January 4, 1896 by an act signed into law by President Grover Cleveland, the first official act of statehood was the swearing in of State officials at the Salt Lake Tabernacle on January 6, 1896, as Utah did not have an official State Capitol. Acting upon the recommendation of Governor John C. Cutler, the Utah Legislature finally approved a plan to build a State Capitol in 1909. Construction on the Capitol did not start until December 26, 1912, and it was not completed and dedicated until October 9, 1916.[20]
The Utah Capitol Building was undergoing renovations and seismic upgrades beginning in 2002 and was finished in 2008. The State Legislature met in the West Administration Building at the Capitol Complex while the Governor's and Lt. Governor's Offices were located in the East Administration Building during the time of renovation.[21]
See also
- List of Utah State Legislatures
- Utah Capitol
- Utah House of Representatives
- Utah Senate
- United States congressional delegations from Utah for federal legislators
- Utah Transfer of Public Lands Act
References
- ^ a b "Utah Code – Title 36, Chapter 3, Part 2, Section 201 – Beginning date of annual general session". le.utah.gov. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
- ^ a b c "Utah Constitution – Article VI, Section 16 – Duration of sessions". utah.gov. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
- ^ Utah House Leadership Archived February 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, accessed Monday, February 9, 2015
- ^ Utah Senate Leadership Archived November 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, accessed Monday, February 9, 2015
- ^ "Rep. Brad Wilson, Sen. Stuart Adams picked to lead Utah Legislature," Salt Lake Tribune, Nov. 8, 2018
- ^ "A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 - 1875". memory.loc.gov. Archived from the original on May 5, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
- ^ Library of Congress, Compromise of 1850 Archived August 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, accessed on Tuesday, January 30, 2007
- ^ Petitions for Statehood section relies upon History to Go, Chronology of Statehood Archived September 23, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ House, Utah Code, Title 36, Chapter 1, Section 201 Archived February 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, accessed on Tuesday, January 30, 2007
- ^ Senate, Utah Code, Title 36, Chapter 1, Section 101 Archived February 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, accessed on Tuesday, January 30, 2007
- ^ Senate, Utah Constitution, Article VI, Section 4 Archived February 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, accessed on Tuesday, January 30, 2007
- ^ House, Utah Constitution, Article VI, Section 3 Archived February 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, accessed on Tuesday, January 30, 2007
- ^ Utah Constitution, Article VI, Section 12 Archived February 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, accessed on Tuesday, January 30, 2007
- ^ History of the Nebraska Unicameral Archived May 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, accessed on January 30, 2007
- ^ "With Utah Legislature's Mormon supermajority, is it representative of the people?". sltrib.com. Archived from the original on January 26, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
- ^ a b "Utah Legislative Website, Organization of the Legislature". utah.gov. Archived from the original on April 29, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
- ^ "About Legislative Committees". le.utah.gov. Archived from the original on April 6, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
- ^ a b "Utah State Legislative Website". utah.gov. Archived from the original on March 9, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
- ^ "Pioneers and Cowboys". historytogo.utah.gov. Archived from the original on September 14, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
- ^ Utah Capitol Preservation Board, History of the Utah State Capitol Archived January 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, accessed on Tuesday, January 30, 2007
- ^ Utah Capitol Preservation Board – Restoration, Expansion, and Preservation Archived February 16, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, accessed Tuesday, January 30, 2007