"There's not a greater or easier way to tell if someone has the same values as you do or at least similar values, other than to say, OK, they're Republican ... or they're Democrat, and they're probably fairly close to my beliefs," Wimmer said.

But party delegates often represent more extreme ends of the political spectrum. In a red state like Utah, they're more conservative than moderate, said Vik Arnold, who oversees government and legislative relations for the Utah Education Association.

"A relatively few people can control ... political outcomes at the party caucus and local convention levels," Arnold said. That could change the makeup of the typically more moderate State School Board, which he believes reflects Utah more than the more conservative Legislature does.

Arnold and Burningham question whether the proposed bill is retribution for the State School Board's refusal to implement what it viewed as an amendment to the law giving government vouchers for private school tuition. The board's in-house attorneys believed that law could not stand on its own. The original law was put on hold because of a citizens' referendum.

Several legislators were irritated by the board's move. Some, plus Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, viewed it as open defiance of the law. The Utah Supreme Court, however, ruled that the law in question could not stand on its own, and that the public would vote yes or no on vouchers in November.

"We have a Legislature that is unhappy with the current behavior of the State School Board and would like to see more school board members serving on that board that represent the conservative positions that these same legislators do that have supported the voucher bill," Arnold said.

Burningham says that would introduce a new pressure to board members because "they would have to be accountable to the party leadership, and the party leadership of the Republican Party was putting strong pressure on people" to implement that second voucher bill, Burningham said.

But Bramble says the bill is not so intended.

"It's not the case this is retribution for vouchers," he said of bills expected next session dealing with teacher pay and the structure of the State School Board.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. last week said that he didn't think lawmakers were coming up with legislation because they want to punish the school board.

"I don't think so, because this has been thrown around as long as I've been in office, almost three years. So it kind of predates the voucher movement," the governor said in his monthly news conference on KUED Ch. 7. "It maybe intensified slightly because of the voucher debate. But I think these are very legitimate governance issues that have to be discussed."

Wimmer hopes to have the bill debated by an interim committee before the 2008 Legislative session. He said two state board members have told him they support the concept.

"The more information we can get to the citizens, the better," Wimmer said. "The more open our elections, the better."

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Contributing: Lisa Riley Roche

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E-MAIL: jtcook@desnews.com