Divorce Lawyer Orem, Utah: Utah State Constitutional Amendment

Utah Constitutional Amendment was an amendment to the Utah state constitution that sought to define marriage as a union exclusively between a man and woman. It passed in the November 2, 2004, election, as did similar amendments in ten other states.
The amendment, which added Article 1, Section 29, to the Utah Constitution, reads:
• Marriage consists only of the legal union between a man and a woman.
• No other domestic union, however denominated, may be recognized as a marriage or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect.
On December 20, 2013, federal judge Robert J. Shelby of the U.S. District Court for Utah struck down Amendment 3 as unconstitutional under the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution. Both pro and anti amendment groups formed to sway voters. The “Don’t Amend Alliance” organized in spring, much earlier than pro-amendment groups. The Alliance raised hundreds of thousands dollars, catching supporters of the amendment by surprise. They responded with the “Yes! For Marriage” group, which only began a coordinated campaign on October 5. Nonetheless, latent support for the amendment appeared high with over 60% support for the Amendment in a Salt Lake Tribune poll conducted early October.

Arguments for Amendment 3

Supporters of Amendment 3 said that the amendment would do three things:
• Prevent state courts from making a ruling that current Utah marriage legislation as being unconstitutional.
• Prevent state courts from forcing recognition of out-of-state marriages.
• Prevent the creation of “counterfeit marriages”, such as civil unions.
They also said the amendment would not hurt heterosexual marriage, common law marriages, or the right to will property to whomever one wishes.

Arguments against Amendment 3

Those opposed to the amendment say that section one of the amendment is completely unnecessary since Utah already outlaws same-sex marriage. They also say the second part of the amendment “goes too far”. They feel that it would invalidate common law marriage as well as reducing rights to will property to whomever one chooses.

Court challenge

On March 25, 2013, three same-sex couples, including one already married in Iowa, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Utah seeking to declare Utah’s prohibition on the recognition of same-sex marriages unconstitutional under the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the United States Constitution. The court heard arguments on December 4. The state argued that there was “nothing unusual” in enforcing policies that encourage “responsible procreation” and the “optimal mode of child-rearing”. Plaintiffs’ attorney contended that the policy is “based on prejudice and bias that is religiously grounded in this state”. On December 20, 2013, District Judge Robert J. Shelby struck down the same-sex marriage ban as unconstitutional and violating same-gender couples’ their rights to due process and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment. The ruling prevents the State from enforcing Sections 30-1-2 and 30-1-4.1 of the Utah Code and Article I, § 29 of the Utah Constitution to the extent these laws prohibit a person from marrying another person of the same sex. State Senator Jim Dabakis and his partner of 27 years were among the first same-sex couples to marry in the state. Same sex marriages were performed in Salt Lake, Washington and Cache counties on December 20. Other counties declined to grant same-sex couples their request. At least one same-sex couples planned to camp overnight at the Salt Lake County Clerk’s Office in anticipation of it opening at 8 a.m., one hour before the 9 a.m. hearing scheduled to hear a Motion for Stay submitted by the State of Utah in the 10th District Court. An Emergency Motion to Stay, which would have granted a stay pending the ruling on the stay that is the subject of a hearing scheduled for December 23, was denied December 22.
Utah Constitutional Amendment C, Changes Related to Special Legislative Sessions and State Revenue Measure (2018). A “yes” vote supported the amendment to:
• allow the state legislature, through a two-thirds vote, to call a special session of up to ten days to deal with matters such as a fiscal crisis, war, natural disaster, or other emergency;
• allow a special session of the legislature, other than the 45-day annual general session, to be held at a location other than the state capitol if it is not feasible due to a specified condition; and
• require the governor to either reduce state expenditures or convene a special legislative session if the state’s expenses exceed the state’s revenue for a fiscal year.
A “no” vote opposed amending the state constitution to:
• alter provisions related to state legislative special sessions and
• require the governor to either reduce state expenditures or convene a special legislative session if the state’s expenses exceed the state’s revenue for a fiscal year.

Measure design

As of 2018, legislative leaders could not call the state legislature into a special session. Only the governor had the power to convene a special legislative session. The Utah Constitution provides for the legislature to meet annually for a regular 45-day session and allows the Governor to convene the legislature in a special session. Constitutional Amendment C allowed the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives to call the legislature into session for up to 10 days through a two-thirds vote of approval of legislators in each chamber to address, according to the amendment, “a persistent fiscal crisis, war, natural disaster, or emergency in the affairs of the State.” Under the measure, at least 30 days need to pass following the adjournment of the general session for legislative leaders to call a special session. Under the measure, the legislative session is prohibited from addressing matters not outlined in the proclamation to hold a session. Amendment C required that appropriations made during a special session called by the legislature cannot be greater than 1 percent of the annual budget for the preceding fiscal year. The measure also allowed special sessions to be held at a location other than the Utah State Capitol when meeting at the capitol is not feasible due to an epidemic, disaster, foreign attack, or public catastrophe.

Provisions related to state revenue and expenditures

The governor is required, under the measure, to either reduce proportionately the amount of money spent or convene a special legislative session if the state’s expenses exceed the state’s revenue for a fiscal year.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Constitutional Amendment C was as follows: Shall the Utah Constitution be amended to:
• authorize the Legislature to convene into a limited session if two-thirds of the Utah Senate and House members agree that convening is necessary because of a fiscal crisis, war, natural disaster, or emergency in the affairs of the state;
• require the Governor to reduce state expenditures or convene the Legislature into session if state expenses will exceed revenue for a fiscal year; and
• require a session of the Legislature, other than the 45-day annual general session, to be held at the state capitol, unless it is not feasible due to a specified condition?

Impartial analysis

The impartial analysis for Constitutional Amendment C was as follows: Constitutional Amendment C makes three main changes to the Utah Constitution.
The Amendment: allows the president of the Utah Senate and the speaker of the Utah House of Representatives to convene the Legislature into session under certain limited circumstances; requires the Governor to take certain action if the state’s expenditures will exceed revenue for a fiscal year; and requires a session of the Legislature convened by the Governor or the Legislature to be held at the state capitol in Salt Lake City unless it is not feasible due to certain circumstances.

Current Provisions of the Utah Constitution

The current Utah Constitution provides two ways for the Legislature to meet together or convene in a session to conduct the legislative business of considering and passing laws. First, the Utah Constitution requires the Legislature to meet each year in a 45-day general session. The Constitution does not place any limits on the business that the Legislature may consider during an annual general session. Second, the Constitution authorizes the Governor to convene the Legislature into session, commonly referred to as a special session, at a time other than an annual general session for no more than 30 days. The business that the Legislature may consider during a session convened by the Governor is limited to the business specified by the Governor. Other than the annual general session and a session convened by the Governor, the Utah Constitution does not provide for the convening of the Legislature into session.

Effect of Amendment C

Amendment C authorizes the Legislature to be convened into session at a time other than the 45-day annual general session or when the Governor convenes the Legislature into session. The Amendment authorizes the president of the Utah Senate and the speaker of the Utah House of Representatives to convene the Legislature into session if two-thirds of all Senate and House members are in favour of convening because in their opinion a persistent fiscal crisis, war, natural disaster, or emergency in the affairs of the state requires convening. The business that the Legislature may conduct during the session is limited to the business specified in a proclamation that the Senate president and House of Representatives speaker issue to convene the session.
Amendment C contains the following additional limitations on a session convened by the president and speaker:
• the session may not be convened within the 30 days following the completion of a 45-day annual general session;
• the session may not last more than 10 calendar days; and
• the total amount of money that the Legislature authorizes to be spent may not exceed 1% of the total amount authorized to be spent for the immediately preceding fiscal year.

Requirements if State Expenditures Exceed State Revenue

Under the current Utah Constitution, the Legislature authorizes the spending of state money for each fiscal year, which is a period beginning July 1 and ending the following June 30. The spending authorizations occur before the start of a fiscal year and are based on projections of future state revenue for that same period. The Legislature may not authorize more money to be spent during a fiscal year than the state is expected to receive during that period. If actual revenue during any fiscal year turns out to be less than the amount of money the Legislature previously authorized to be spent, the Governor may, in the manner and in the amounts chosen by the Governor, reduce the amount that state agencies spend. Alternatively, the Governor may, but is not required to, convene the Legislature into session to adjust the amount of money to be spent to match the amount of state revenue.

Effect of Amendment C

Amendment C requires the Governor to take one of two actions if the state’s expenses will exceed the state’s revenue for a fiscal year. The Governor must either reduce proportionately the amount of money spent, except for money spent for the state’s debt, or convene the Legislature into session so that the Legislature may address the revenue shortfall.

Location of Legislative Sessions

The current Utah Constitution requires each 45-day annual general session of the Legislature to be held at the state capitol in Salt Lake City and does not provide any exception to that requirement. The Constitution does not currently specify the location for a session convened by the Governor.
Constitutional Amendment C amended section 2 of Article VI, section 16 of Article VI, section 7 of Article VII, and section 5 of Article XIII of the Utah Constitution. The following underlined text was added, and struck-through text was deleted: Article VI, Section 2. [Time and location of annual general sessions — Location of sessions convened by the Governor or Legislature — Sessions convened by the Legislature.]
• Annual general sessions of the Legislature shall be held at the seat of government and shall begin on the fourth Monday in January.
• A session convened by the Legislature under Subsection
• shall be held at the seat of government, unless convening at the seat of government is not feasible due to epidemic, natural or human-caused disaster, enemy attack, or other public catastrophe.

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