SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah State Legislature met in another special session Tuesday, passing a scathing resolution condemning the judiciary for its rulings on redistricting and repealing a bill that targeted public employee unions.
Lawmakers passed House Joint Resolution 201, which heavily criticized the Utah Supreme Court and 3rd District Court Judge Dianna Gibson's ruling on Proposition 4, the citizen ballot initiative that created an independent redistricting commission.
"The court has done this to themselves," House Majority Leader Casey Snider, R-Paradise, said. "The reputation they have lost and tarnished, they have done and lost and by themselves. You can see the why in this resolution."
Lawmakers also passed bills moving the candidate filing deadline for congressional candidates to March, modifying the signature gathering criteria for those candidates and demanding the Utah Supreme Court hear election-related litigation.
But more than 250 people packed the Capitol rotunda to protest the legislature's actions. They sang Christmas carols with the lyrics changed to mock lawmakers for ignoring voters who successfully passed Prop. 4.
"We are the voters and the legislature needs to listen to the voters," said Jamie Carter, who showed up to protest.
Asked if she felt lawmakers were listening, she replied:"Absolutely not. I have absolutely no faith in our legislators."
But House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, told FOX 13 News in an interview Tuesday that it is the legislature who is elected to represent the people and thus, the people's voices were "taken away" by the court ruling.
"It's unfortunate. But we also feel strongly enough to get in front of the Supreme Court, to try to get the voice of the people back into the elected officials' hands," the Speaker said.
Katharine Biele, the president of the League of Women Voters of Utah, which sued the legislature for overriding Prop. 4, called the legislature's bills "grievances with the courts."
"It makes no sense," she said. "The courts have done their job. They need to leave the courts alone."
The Republican supermajority in the legislature has vowed an appeal to the Utah Supreme Court. The legislature has maintained it has the sole constitutional power to draw boundaries in redistricting and the independent redistricting commission in Prop. 4 was merely "advisory."
GOP lawmakers called on Judge Gibson to finalize the case so they can pursue it quickly. However, it appears the current congressional map she adopted — submitted by the plaintiffs to comply with Prop. 4's neutral redistricting criteria and effectively creating a district in Salt Lake County that is more competitive for Democrats — will stick at least for the 2026 election cycle.
It has led to a number of Democrats jumping into the congressional race for the new district, many of whom were seen on Utah's Capitol Hill on Tuesday participating in the protest.
Lawmakers did an about-face on Tuesday, repealing a bill they passed earlier this year that banned public employee unions from collective bargaining. In that instance, labor unions and volunteers gathered more than 320,000 signatures to force a referendum on the 2026 ballot.
Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan, who sponsored the original bill also sponsored the repeal. He told his colleagues on the House floor it was an opportunity for a "reset" where they could find common ground with labor unions.
Jeff Worthington, the head of the AFL-CIO in Utah, said he was glad to see the bill repealed.
"I think it’s somewhat of a relief. Now we can move forward with important issues that affect labor and working class families," he told FOX 13 News.
