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Opinion: Fair maps belong to the people — not the politicians
DeseretNews | Published: Oct 29, 2025, 4:40 p.m. MDT
By Utah Citizens' Counsel Steering Committee - Karen Crompton, Dixie Huefner, Susan Olson, Rebecca Davis and Dave Carrier
In 2018, Utah voters made a clear choice: they passed Proposition 4, a citizen-led initiative to establish an independent redistricting commission designed to draw fair and impartial political maps and submit them to the Utah Legislature. It was a hard-fought, grassroots victory — narrow, yes, but deeply democratic. Voters wanted to curb gerrymandering and remove partisan politics from the redistricting process.
Now, a new effort threatens to erase that progress — not by another public vote, but through a backdoor maneuver known as the indirect initiative process. This initiative, led by the Utah Republican Party, seeks to repeal the very standards Proposition 4 created. If they gather signatures from just 4% of active voters, the repeal proposal would go straight to the state Legislature — dominated by the very party that benefits from gerrymandered maps — for approval. If the Legislature votes yes, Proposition 4 could be undone without ever going back to the voters who passed it.
(Isaac Hale | Pool) Gov. Spencer Cox is shown during the PBS Utah Governor’s Monthly News Conference held at the Eccles Broadcast Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, July 17, 2025.
Letter: Gov. Cox’s declaration highlights the life-saving power of vaccines
The Salt Lake Tribune | By Karen Crompton and Dixie Huefner | The Public Forum | Aug. 19, 2025, 6:00 a.m. | Updated: 1:24 p.m.
Opinion by Karen Crompton and Dixie Huefner for the Utah Citizens’ CounselWe commend Gov. Spencer Cox for proclaiming August 2025 as Immunization Awareness Month in Utah. This important declaration highlights the life-saving power of vaccines and reaffirms our state’s commitment to public health and community well-being.
Vaccines have played a critical role in eradicating or controlling deadly diseases like smallpox, polio, rubella and measles. They protect our most vulnerable citizens — including infants, the elderly and immunocompromised individuals — by helping to ensure community immunity. The governor’s proclamation rightly emphasizes these benefits, along with the broader impact vaccines have in preventing certain cancers, reducing long-term complications, and lowering rates of respiratory illness.
Voices: In its public lands lawsuit, Utah is putting ideological disputes over the well-being of citizens
By Karen Crompton | For The Salt Lake Tribune | Jan. 13, 2025, 6:05 a.m.
Opinion by Karen Crompton, for the Utah Citizens' Counsel.On December 18, 2024, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance filed a lawsuit in Utah’s Third District Court against Gov. Spencer Cox and Attorney General Reyes, alleging constitutional violations in their efforts to seize control of federal lands. This action highlights the ongoing legal battle between Utah and the federal government over the management of public lands, a dispute with far-reaching implications for the state and the nation.
The state’s latest lawsuit, filed directly with the U.S. Supreme Court on August 20, 2024, challenges the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) oversight of 18.5 million acres within Utah. While proponents argue this case represents a fight for state sovereignty, the legal, historical and economic foundations of Utah’s claims are fundamentally flawed.
Opinion: Utah’s judicial independence is at risk
Deseret News | Published: Dec 26, 2024, 11:45 a.m. MST
Guest Opinion by Karen Crompton & Karen Hale.
Karen Crompton and Karen Hale are board members of the Utah Citizens' Counsel, an independent, non-partisan group of senior community advocates dedicated to improving public policy.
Utah’s judiciary has long stood as a model of independence and fairness, free from political machinations that would undermine its integrity. However, recent legislative actions signal a troubling shift in the balance of power, threatening the impartiality of the courts and the rights of Utah’s citizens.
These developments are part of a broader, nationwide trend where state legislatures seek to consolidate power, often at the expense of judicial independence. In 2023 alone, legislators in 29 states introduced over 120 bills targeting the autonomy of their judicial branches, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. Utah is no exception.
Published: Feb 22, 2024, 3:08 p.m. MST | Deseret NewsOpinion: State employees shouldn’t be fired for presenting unpopular information. This bill could jeopardize that
By Dixie Huefner, Susan Olson
Published: May 18, 2021 | Salt Lake Tribune Opinion: Let's Be Wise about Spending Federal Rescue Funds on Utah's Important Needs
by Dixie Huefner, Susan Olson, Bryant Howe, Pat Christensen, and Michael Deily
Published: Sept. 8, 2019 | Salt Lake Tribune Opinion: Removing income tax earmarks for education is a bad idea
by Dixie Huefner, John Bennion, Julie Miller, Sheryl Allen
Published: Nov. 4, 2018 | PBS News feature on the Hinckley Institute Forum UCC presentation of 2018 Annual Report
PBS News / KUED | Liz Adeola
Published: Dec. 4, 2016 | Salt Lake Tribune To the Editor: Public schools need more money, and Utahns know it
by Dixie Huefner, John Bennion, Kim Burningham, M. Donald Thomas and Rickie McCandless
Published: Nov. 22, 2016 | Salt Lake Tribune To the Editor: Utah should revisit its hate crime bill
by Dee Rowland & Nancy Haanstad
Published: Feb. 25, 2016 | Deseret News Opinion: Legislature, public must act to save children's brains
by Cheryll May
Published: Feb. 15, 2016 | Deseret News Opinion: Is the Division of Water Resources objective about Utah's water needs?
by David Carrier
Published: Dec. 13, 2015 | KSL 'Human rights form a chain with many links,' Utah Citizens' Counsel says
KSL News | by Marjorie Cortez
Published: Dec. 10, 2015 | Deseret News 'Human rights form a chain with many links,' new Utah Citizens' Counsel report says
DeseretNews| by Marjorie Cortez
Published: Dec. 10, 2015 | KUER Group Recommends Policy Change to Better Utah
KUER 90.1 | by Judy Fahys
Published: July 19, 2015 | Deseret News Opinion: Because we're all dependent, Utah should pass health care reform
by Michael Stapley
Published: May 10, 2015 | Deseret News Q-and-A with Kim Burningham, a true elder statesman
DeseretNews | By Lee Benson
Published: Feb. 19, 2013 | Salt Lake Tribune Opinion: Toxic Air: Perpetrators and Victims
by David Carrier and Harry E. Fuller, Jr.
Published: Feb. 6, 2013 | Salt Lake Tribune Opinion: Medicaid, the Legislature and genetics
by David Irvine
Published: Jan. 10, 2013 | Salt Lake Tribune Opinion: What Would Jacob Marley do with Medicaid?
by David Irvine
Published: Jan. 16, 2013 | Deseret News Opinion: Medicaid Expansion
by Irene Fisher
Published: Oct. 4, 2012 | Salt Lake Tribune Utah gubernatorial candidates spar on Medicaid expansion
The Salt Lake Tribune | by Robert Gehrke
Published: May 17, 2011 | Salt Lake Tribune 4 Ways to redraw districts - One plan would put S.L. County into a single bloc
The Salt Lake Tribune | by Lee Davidson