Utah Senate advances redistricting plan after rejecting amendments

The Utah State Senate on the second special session called by Gov. Norman H. Bangerter advanced its committee redistricting plan on Oct. 1991, voting 17–11 to place Senate Bill 1 (senate districts) on the third-reading calendar after rejecting two amendment proposals.

Senator Dixie Levitt moved to substitute the committee plan with “Senate C,” a county-aligned map she said would keep rural counties together and reduce sprawling, hard-to-represent districts. Levitt argued the committee map would join distant counties — for example placing parts of Washington County with Carbon County — producing districts that are difficult for a single senator to serve and travel across. She said her alternative would create county groupings with populations around 60,250 and about 260,000 in other groupings and asserted those alignments better respected natural barriers and community interests. “When it comes to redistricting, you’re talking about something that is going to last 10 years,” Levitt said, urging adoption of Plan C.

Senators defending the committee plan, including its sponsor, Senator Reese, said the committee considered more than a dozen options, held hearings in Central and Southern Utah and sought input from local officials. Opponents of Levitt’s amendment said the committee’s approach preserved communities of interest identified at hearings and balanced agricultural, mining and tourism interests across the region. After recorded roll-call voting, the Levitt amendment failed by 1–28.

Senator Richards later proposed an amendment aimed at rebalancing three Weber County districts, arguing the committee plan made District 18 substantially weaker and risked discouraging competition and voter participation. Supporters described the move as correcting apparent gerrymandering and making more cities whole; opponents said growth patterns required pushing districts into adjacent Davis County to preserve three Weber seats. That amendment failed on recorded vote, 10–18 with one senator absent.

Senate Bill 1 then went to a third-reading roll call, which the Senate carried 17–11; the bill will return for further consideration with expected technical amendments filed the next day. During debate, Senator Finlayson objected to a newly created central Salt Lake City district and warned against any plan that would concentrate minority or partisan voters without adequate justification. Senator Reese, sponsor of SB 1, said staff would prepare amendments, and senators indicated additional map variations would be circulated for review before the next session day.

The session had opened with a proclamation from Gov. Norman H. Bangerter calling the Legislature into special session to reapportion congressional, legislative and state school districts and included a certification read by Lt. Gov. W. Val Ovison. The Senate adopted its 1991 rules for the special session, received administrative briefings and recessed to a joint hearing to hear the governor’s message and attend caucus presentations before returning to begin redistricting debate.

The Senate adjourned after moving to recess until 9 a.m. the following day.