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WASHINGTON - Even as Utah state lawmakers prepare to head into special session to pass a four-seat congressional map in hopes of getting another House member, it's doubtful legislation dealing with the issue in Congress will make it to a vote next week.
Congress is returning Tuesday for what is planned to be a four-day lame duck session, but there are several big issues awaiting the members, including passing a budget resolution.
A senior GOP aide told The Salt Lake Tribune on Thursday that it's "unlikely" the House would take up a bill that would give Utah a fourth congressional seat that likely would go to a Republican in order to balance a proposed seat for the District of Columbia, which doesn't now have a full-voting representative.
"There's simply too many Republicans who have problems with the bill to bring it up at this late of an hour in the session," the aide said.
Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, signaled similar concerns on Thursday. Asked if the bill had a chance at passing, Cannon said, "It is very dicey, I would say."
While the current bill will expire at the end of this year's session if Congress doesn't act, Democrats, who will take over both chambers in January, have supported giving the district a House member.
It's unclear whether Utah would fit into that movement, however.
Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. issued an official call Thursday for a special session of the Legislature for Monday to consider approval of new congressional districts to include a fourth seat.
The measure is still awaiting a vote in the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, though advocates of the legislation say committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner may skip a committee vote and just send the bill directly to the floor if Utah acts to create a new map.
Sensenbrenner wanted the state to approve a final map before the bill moves.
Jeff Hartley, executive director of the Utah Republican Party, said Thursday he wasn't sure of the bill's chances.
"I get mixed signals from Washington and I would say the odds are 50-50," Hartley said.
Questions of the measure's constitutionality also have plagued its progress.
The nation's founding document says members of Congress should come from the "several states," and the District of Columbia is not a state. However, some constitutional experts say courts have given broad discretion to Congress to legislate over the district.
Ilir Zherka, executive director of the advocacy group DC Vote, said he has heard comments from anonymous Hill staffers throughout the process raising concerns about the bill but the measure has still survived.
Zherka did acknowledge a shortened time frame is a difficult hurdle for the bill. "What we are hearing is that time is certainly a factor," he said.
An aide to Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., the sponsor of the measure, declined to respond Thursday night.
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* Tribune reporter MATT CANHAM contributed to this story.