Utahns give high marks to Legislature and Gov. Herbert — maybe because of contrast with federal shutdown and divided government

As Utah’s part-time legislators begin their annual 45-day session Monday, residents give them and Gov. Gary Herbert surprisingly high job approval in a new poll — maybe because federal chaos in Washington makes them look good by comparison.

Utah voters give thumbs up to the Legislature’s performance by a margin of 60 percent to 31 percent, or 2-to-1. That is vastly higher than a poll two years ago, when a plurality of Utahns actually gave lawmakers failing marks — by a 39-43 margin.

Voters gave Herbert even better grades — approving his job performance by a 73-21 margin, according to a poll by The Salt Lake Tribune and the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah.

Herbert and legislative leaders acknowledge that such numbers may be driven by how they look in contrast to the bickering in Washington that led to the recent partial federal government shutdown.

“All the action that happens on the federal level — the shutdown and other turmoil — seems to make us look better,” said Senate Majority Leader Evan Vickers, R-Cedar City. “I’ve actually had people walk up and thank me for what we do in the state, and for not being like the federal government.”

Herbert’s spokesman, Paul Edwards, says the high approval is “reflective of the success that the state is enjoying. And, unlike Washington, D.C., we try very hard to work together and to find consensus on a lot of issues. And that seems to have really helped produce a robust growing economy and an outstanding quality of life.”

House Majority Leader Francis Gibson, R-Mapleton, also said if the state does well, job approval ratings for lawmakers and the governor also do well.

The high ratings “are a sign of our budget — we have a surplus. Our economy is doing well," Gibson said. “We have a low unemployment rate. The secret is out, and we are growing — more people want to come here.”

High approval for the Legislature comes even though last year several groups successfully pushed ballot initiatives to enact policies that lawmakers refused to pass for years — such as legalized medical marijuana, full Medicaid expansion and a move aimed at curbing gerrymandering by creating an independent commission to draw political boundaries.

The Legislature already rewrote the medical marijuana initiative in a special session and may tweak the other new voter-approved laws.

But Gibson says legislators are still paying attention to the main desires of voters as they look at reworking laws.

“For example, I think most people who voted for Prop 2 did it because they wanted medical marijuana for those who were suffering and needed an alternative — not because they wanted recreational marijuana,” Gibson said.

And when lawmakers rewrote the law, he asserts, “All we did is eliminate the opportunity for recreational use."

The governor always ranks higher than lawmakers in such polls, but Herbert is not gloating — and shares credit with lawmakers, who say that maybe voters don’t give them enough of it.

“What we see in this is our willingness to work together,” Edwards said. “When we look at legislation passed in the last general session, the vast majority passed by near unanimity. There is a real effort to work together on significant issues” and hammer out disagreements “before they become significant issues.”

Of course, the Legislature is controlled by one party — the GOP, unlike the divided national government. The governor, too, is Republican. Even so, the chief executive and Legislature tangled on some high-profile balance-of-power issues last year, ending in more authority shifting to lawmakers.

Gibson said the governor usually comes out ahead in polls because “he is the face of the state.”

He adds, “The governor has the luxury of being the chief benefactor of the work of the Legislature… When tough budget decisions have to be made, it’s not made by the governor but by the Legislature. So, unfortunately, some of the negative [rankings] come with that.”

The new poll surveyed 604 Utahns statewide between Jan. 15-24 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.