This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Lawmakers will jet across the state Monday and Tuesday, seeking public input on their attempts to carve Utah into four U.S. House districts.
The meetings from St. George to Ogden are part of a rushed process that could possibly give Utah another voice in Washington, D.C.
During a lame-duck session beginning Dec. 4, Congress plans to debate a measure to expand the U.S. House from 435 members to 437, adding representatives in Utah and, for the first time, the District of Columbia.
Proponents say the bill would satisfy both parties because the liberal D.C. representative would theoretically be balanced by a conservative elected from Utah.
But Congress doesn't want to act until members see Utah's proposed congressional districts. And state lawmakers don't want to make that decision before they give Utahns a chance to comment.
The Legislature's redistricting committee - comprised of eight Republicans and three Democrats - will fly to open hearings in Provo, Price and St. George on Monday, before driving to Park City, Ogden and Salt Lake City the following day.
"We would like to get as much input as possible," said Santa Clara Rep. Dave Clark, who will become House majority leader in January. "It may be down to specific neighborhoods, or at the broad stroke looking at the state in general."
The committee plans to discuss four maps. Republicans drafted three, called Plan A, I and J, with each district having a mix of urban and rural residents, based on 2000 census figures. House Democrats put together another map - Plan G - which has three largely urban districts and one massive rural district.
The day after the hearings, the committee expects to select a final map to be debated by the full Legislature during a special session Dec. 1.
Salt Lake County is too large to fit in one congressional district, and Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has said he wants the county split between two districts. Of the four maps, two split Salt Lake County three ways.
Congress also has sent a clear message - reiterated by Huntsman - that no map should adversely affect sitting representatives, a move meant to insulate Jim Matheson, Utah's lone Democratic U.S. House member.
The Democratic proposal would lump Republican Reps. Chris Cannon and Rob Bishop into the same district. Plan A, a map created by the 2001 Legislature, and back for consideration now, would combine Cannon and Matheson.
The Democratic congressman has called for an independent commission to draw the map instead of partisan politicians. Matheson has not seen any of the proposals and has no intention of being engaged in the process, said his spokeswoman Alyson Heyrend.
"The Republican legislators are going to do what the Republican legislators are going to do," she said.
Matheson has nothing to worry about, according to the acting chairwoman of the state Republican Party.
"Jim Matheson's never going to get a better district than he is going to get under these circumstances," said Enid Greene, referencing to the pressure from Congress to protect incumbents.
State lawmakers say they are attempting to remove politics from the map-making process. Most of the debate has focused on the urban and rural breakdown of each district.
Republicans want every member of Congress to have some rural constituents to respond to, while at least some Democrats argue for some densely urban districts covering the Wasatch Front.
House Democrats, led by Rep. Jackie Biskupski, D-Salt Lake City, created Plan G, which Republicans initially panned but have since said they will add to the public hearings.
Democratic Salt Lake City Rep. David Litvack wants to hear what the public has to say on this rural-urban debate.
Litvack said he may be "a bit of a Pollyanna," but he expects public input to shape the final plan.
"That should change the nature of the map if we are doing the will of the public, which is what we should be doing," he said.