Washington » Under one plan, Utah could get another member of Congress as early as this year. Another plan delays that extra House seat until 2011.
The first plan would allow the state to temporarily elect a new representative statewide, while the latter would ask the Legislature to carve up congressional districts again.
Two different versions of legislation are moving their way through Congress that would grant Utah a fourth member and, at the same time, grant the District of Columbia its first full-fledged member.
A House committee will take up the issue Tuesday in one of its first hearings of the new Congress.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has been a strong supporter of the move. But his vote could be lost if the House version -- with its plan for a statewide representative -- is the legislation.
"You can't do an at-large [House seat]," Hatch said in an interview late last week. "That's unconstitutional and I won't support that. If the House bill passes, they'll lose my support."
Two of Utah's House members already are skeptical of the legislation -- in either form. Freshman Rep. Jason Chaffetz says he will vote against the bill, and Rep. Rob Bishop, who voted "present" on the legislation last year, isn't sure he will support the bill either.
But Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. backs the effort.
Ilir Zherka, executive director of DC Vote, the main lobbying arm behind the bill, says the differences between the two pieces of legislation will be worked out eventually, though it shouldn't hold up the bill.
"It'll definitely be a point of negotiation," Zherka says. "Ultimately, both chambers and the leaders of the both chambers -- Democratic leaders want to see this bill enacted into law this year and as early as possible. The motivation to answer those questions is very high."
He says it's likely the House will pass its version and the Senate will take up its own, and the two chambers will meet in conference to hammer out the differences.
The bill's first stop, though, is Tuesday's committee hearing. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., will speak, along with a former Bush administration attorney and a veteran of the Iraq war from the District of Columbia. No Utah officials have been announced as panelists for the hearing, though Chaffetz is a member of the committee.
While advisers to President George W. Bush had recommended a veto of the legislation if it had passed Congress, President Barack Obama was a co-sponsor of previous legislation on the subject when he served in the Senate.
Two versions of legislation on an extra House seat:
House version » Both Utah and the District of Columbia would get a new member of Congress, elected as soon as this year. Utah's seat would be elected statewide temporarily until the state redistricts after the 2010 Census.
Senate version » Both Utah and the District of Columbia would get a new member of Congress at the start of the next session in January 2011. Utah would have to decide how to draw up a four-seat district map.
