Utah House approves 75-member redistricting plan after hours of amendment votes

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah House of Representatives approved House Bill 2,001, a 75-member redistricting plan, after hours of debate over map lines, county boundaries and a string of amendments that lawmakers said reflected both technical fixes and political trade-offs.

Representative Jerry Adair, sponsor of the House plan, told colleagues the proposal had been shaped by committee work and public input and urged members to back a single plan that could carry the state forward for a decade. "We need to put our self interest aside and vote for this and go on with the process," Adair said in his final summation.

The floor considered multiple amendments that altered district boundaries across the state. Representative Brent Goodfellow proposed Amendment A5 to shift an open seat and redistribute Summit County population into districts 41 and 49; after questioning about travel access to canyon communities and political effects, the amendment failed on a roll-call, 23 yes to 48 no. Representative Doug Cox later moved Amendment 12 to return a precinct to American Fork so the city would be more whole;…