Whither Utah's fourth seat

Deseret Morning News
Published: Sunday, June 5, 2005 7:04 p.m. MDT
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We have a hard time believing, as Utah Rep. Rob Bishop said last week, that Jim Matheson, Utah's lone Democrat in Congress, is personally holding up legislation that would give the state a fourth House member immediately. As Matheson said, that's a lot of credit to give a lone congressman in the minority party.

But we have an equally hard time understanding why Republicans are refusing to bring the bill to a vote, considering they have the numbers to do just about anything they want. The bill, sponsored by Virginia Republican Thomas Davis, has all but died.

The issue, of course, isn't as simple as just giving Utah a fourth seat, which it is likely to get after the next census, anyway. The bill also would give the District of Columbia a seat in the House, then temporarily expand House membership from 435 to 437. The addition would most likely include one Republican (from Utah) and one Democrat (from D.C.). In 2010, the House would contract again by two.

That's where support for the deal seems to fall apart. When the House contracts, Utah could well be left with two new Republican seats, given the surety that GOP lawmakers here will try to redraw the state's districts to make Matheson's re-election difficult.

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That would explain Matheson's opposition to the bill — except, of course, that he insists he supports it. It doesn't explain, however, why House Majority Leader Tom DeLay won't bring the bill to the floor.

In the past, we've urged Utah to adopt a less partisan way of apportioning the state's political districts. We still think this would be a good way to allay some of the fears that may be standing in the way of the bill. But it would make good sense as a public policy regardless.

When he met with us last week, Bishop said removing politicians from the redistricting process still would not separate it from politics. He cited examples from other states where the majority party still picks the majority of members on such panels.

But there could be many ways to organize such an effort. For example, the state could form a seven-member group in which each party chooses two members, and the parties together must agree on the other three. In a state dominated by Republican voters, the GOP would have little to lose by establishing such a process.

In any event, Bishop is correct when he says a fourth House member would be important for Utah. It would give the state a greater say on more committees and on legislation of interest to people here. It seems the state would be well-advised to explore any way it can to revive the bill.

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