Utah Legislature: Republicans surge past Democrats in laws

SALT LAKE CITY — While the 2010 Legislature was hailed as one of the most bipartisan in recent years, nine of every 10 bills that passed were still introduced by Republicans.

That shows how much of a one-party state Utah has become.

Republicans outnumber Democrats in the Legislature by a 74-30 margin — a two-thirds supermajority. In raw politics, that means the minority Democrats alone can't stop a constitutional amendment, can't stop Republicans from suspending any rule, can't filibuster or extend or stop debate on any bill.

With that big edge, Republicans had their way in almost any measure imaginable this year, including:

Of the 478 bills passed into law, only 57 were sponsored by Democrats, compared with 421 by Republicans.

The GOP as a group passed 70 percent of its bills. Democrats' success rate was only 44 percent, and Democrats in the House could pass only 39 percent of their bills.

Of the 17 legislators who managed to pass all of their bills, 13 were Republicans and four were Democrats.

Of the nine lawmakers who did not manage to pass any bills, seven were Democrats and two were Republicans.

Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, lists one main reason why so many GOP bills pass each session: Most Utahns are Republicans.

GOP legislators "are looking at bills to represent the citizens, and most Utahns are Republicans," he said.

Democratic lawmakers often sponsor bills that Democratic constituents would like, "but most Utahns aren't Democrats," added the president. Thus, the failure of most Democratic bills is a result of the bills' contents, not who sponsored them, he said.

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader David Litvack, D-Salt Lake, said his 22-member caucus never defines success by a percentage of bills passed.

"We had a very successful session — in the way we engaged and advocated for certain budget items, how we worked with some members on the Republican side to defeat measures, too," Litvack said.

One example is that House Democrats with a few moderate Republicans denied the required two-thirds majority to pass a constitutional amendment that would have outlawed affirmative action in Utah. The amendment was never voted on in the House after flying through several committees.

The annual analysis by the Deseret News shows well that several unspoken rules are usually followed in dealing with legislation including: