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Senate advances bill shifting burden on initiative ballot titles; debate over limiting court review

Utah State Senate · February 6, 2001
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

A Senate bill creating a presumption that the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel’s ballot titles are impartial cleared second reading after a sharp floor exchange about limiting Supreme Court review; supporters say it provides needed clarity, opponents say it limits challengers’ ability to secure fair ballot language.

Senators advanced a measure that would make the ballot titles prepared by the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel presumptively impartial and restrict Supreme Court revision unless challengers show the title is "patently false or biased." Senator Hilliard, sponsor of Senate Bill 86, said the change is aimed at providing guidance after a recent court decision left staff without a clear standard and invited litigation over intent and…

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