In short, the legal squabbling of whether one or two voucher-related bills that passed the 2007 Legislature should end. The two-bill talk "is a bogus issue."

"The will of the people should be heard (in the vote) and followed, period," said Becker, who, like other Democrats, opposed the voucher bill.

Some lawmakers worry that should the recently completed voucher initiative petitions be certified to the ballot (that 92,000 signatures of registered voters were in fact gathered), then the Legislature could be in an awkward position if citizens repealed the first voucher bill in a public vote.

A second voucher bill — "touted as just a clean up measure," Becker says, that added more funding to the voucher program — could in fact still be on the books.

And so citizens would vote to repeal the vouchers, but then see vouchers still in place because of the second bill, which is not part of the initiative petition.

The main voucher bill passed by one vote in the House. It would give parents who send children to private schools between a $500 and $3,000 tax credit each year for each student.

Some legislators also don't like the November 2008 election as a statewide voucher vote — the other option for Huntsman.

Not only would all of the Utah House and half of the Senate also be up for re-election that election, but by waiting that long parents would have gotten the voucher tax credits for the 2007-08 2007-2008 school year only to possibly lose them in the November 2008 election.

Rep. Kay McIff, R-Richfield, said legislators need to ask, and then decide, two fundamental questions: Do they want to see a full, fair voucher election, with as many citizens participating as possible? And are lawmakers then willing to abide by what citizens say?

A former judge, McIff said legislators could come into special session this year and fix the two-bill question. "We should not cloud the issue with a two-bill issue, not cloud it with an unfair (low) turnout" by voters.

"We could clarify so this is a true up or down vote" on vouchers by citizens, said McIff.

The ballot language will be written by the legal staff of the Legislature's Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel, without approval or editing by legislative leaders.

House Majority Leader Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara, and Rep. Mel Brown, R-Coalville, said the wording on the ballot will be key to whether the referendum passes or fails.

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Contributing: Tiffany Erickson

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E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com