Political questions abound over ethics, redistricting

A recent Deseret News/KSL-TV survey showed overwhelming support for two ballot initiatives, one proposing strict ethics guidelines for legislators and the other creating an independent redistricting commission. The survey results have good-government groups smiling, a lot of Republican leaders frowning and the entire political community buzzing with questions:

 With such apparent strong public support, will initiative backers get enough signatures to place the proposals on the 2010 ballot, and is victory at the polls a done deal?

Webb: It's by no means a done deal. Getting signatures of 95,000 registered voters is extremely difficult. The initiative backers will attempt to tap into the same network of groups, including the teachers' union, that put the school-voucher referendum on the ballot in 2007 and won passage. But those groups might not be as motivated on these issues as they were with vouchers.

When someone is asked on a survey if he or she supports improving ethics, he or she will always say yes. But that support is superficial. Once voters are educated about the specifics of the proposals, the contest will tighten. Often, laws on complex subjects created by ballot initiative contain the seeds of their own destruction because of flaws and overreaching in the statute language.

These redistricting and ethics proposals were not subjected to the intense scrutiny and refinement that come through the legislative process, where Democrats, Republicans, numerous stakeholder groups, expert staff and various branches of government carefully screen, amend and improve legislation as it works its way through committees, floor votes and is finally signed or vetoed by the governor.

Thus, serious flaws will be pointed out in the months ahead. Opponents, however, will need to raise significant money to get the message out that these proposals are not in the best interest of Utahns.

Pignanelli: "The political and commercial morals of the United States are not merely food for laughter, they are an entire banquet." — Mark Twain

As LaVarr points out, there are comparisons to the referendum that repealed the voucher legislation. However, the vouchers were viewed as a direct threat to teachers and rural communities, thus incentivizing thousands of volunteers. Many Utahns are grumpy at the Legislature, but does that propel them to stand outside for hours soliciting signatures?