This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

WASHINGTON - Legislation to grant Utah a fourth House member and to give the District of Columbia its first full-voting member was introduced Friday and is scheduled for hearings this week.

The legislation - co-sponsored by Rep. Jim Matheson, Utah's only Democrat in Congress - would make the new Utah seat one that is elected statewide, a change from a previous version of the bill that had the seat carved into a specific district.

Congressional aides said last month that tweak was needed to pacify concerns that Utah's current members would have to run for re-election again this year if the bill passes and Matheson's district would change dramatically.

The House Judiciary Committee and the Oversight and Government Management Committee are scheduled to vote on the bill this week.

“The citizens of the District of Columbia have waited far too long for a fully recognized voice in the People's House - an omission that is reminiscent of revolutionary times when Americans were forced to submit to taxation without representation,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Friday.

The research arm of Congress recently raised concerns that the bill was unconstitutional and legal challenges on the legislation are likely if the measure passes.

But advocates of the bill have produced several legal scholars to say the bill will pass constitutional muster.

The bill is primarily aimed at getting the nearly 600,000 residents of the District of Columbia a full-voting House member; Utah, the next state in line after the last Census, is a Republican-dominated state and was added to the legislation to balance what is expected to be a Democratic member from the district.

If the bill passes, the size of the House would permanently increase by two members and Utah's fourth seat would be returned to a newly created district after the next Census and reapportionment.