4th Utah seat under study

WASHINGTON — The question of whether Utah should get a fourth seat in Congress will go before House committees next week, according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Pelosi said Wednesday that she will allow the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the House Judiciary Committee to take up a bill that would grant the District of Columbia a vote in Congress and add a new House seat for Utah.

Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, sits on each committee that will take up the bill.

"As we have seen before, getting a bill moving in the House will be the first step in what will likely be a complicated process," said Joe Hunter, Cannon's chief of staff. "Let the games begin."

Utah's delegation wants to gain an additional member of Congress but wants to make sure the bill is written in a way that also protects the rights of the state's residents. The bill has received a strong push from voting-rights advocates for the District of Columbia.

"We're thrilled," said Ilir Zherka, executive director of DC Vote. "Our coalition has worked very hard to advance the DC Voting Rights Act, and it's great to see all the pieces fall into place. We view these committee markups as the beginning of the end of taxation without representation."

The committee schedule is still being worked out, although the markups may take pace March 14 and 15.

Utah missed a fourth seat after the 2000 Census but is likely to get one after the 2010 count. The bill just speeds up the timeline as part of a bipartisan compromise to avoid either the Democrats or Republicans gaining an advantage.

Utah's seat would likely go to a Republican, while the District's seat would likely go to a Democrat. Utah drew a new four-congressional district map late last year to help get the bill done, but Congress adjourned before the measure could be passed.

Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat who represents the District of Columbia in the House but who cannot cast votes, had meetings with the House leadership and heads of the committees this week in advance of next week's meetings.

Norton said Wednesday that she anticipated the House would pass the bill by the end of the month, before the next recess that starts April 2.

The Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted on the bill last session, although it contained an at-large seat for Utah, rather than a four-district map. The Judiciary Committee never had a vote on the bill. Each committee has jurisdiction on the bill.

"I know I speak for my constituents when I express deep gratitude to the speaker for the time and effort she personally has spent on the bill," Norton said. "We in the district embrace this milestone in the journey of our citizens for two centuries to obtain the most basic of American citizenship rights: the cherished right to be represented in the people's House."

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