Utah Speaker Greg Hughes and his House colleagues have led the charge this year for part-time lawmakers to seize more power from the full-time governor — but the Senate joined in for the first time on Friday.
The Senate Government Operations Committee unanimously endorsed key legislation that is part of that balance-of-powers skirmish: HJR 18, a constitutional amendment that would allow the Legislature to call itself into a special session.
It grows out of a fight last summer, when the governor refused to call lawmakers into session to set rules for the special election in the 3rd Congressional District to replace Rep.