The Utah House of Representatives struck down a bill Friday that would have allowed communities to strike out and create their own county without a majority vote from the county they would leave behind.
Rep. Kim Coleman, the bill’s sponsor, argued the proposal was an important way to honor the ability for communities to self-direct. But her colleagues worried about the process by which HB93 would allow counties to split and raised concerns the bill would disenfranchise those in the community left behind.
“We as a Legislature need to be very, very careful when we decide where we’re going to allow voters of Utah to have a voice in a vote and where we’re not allowing people to have a vote in their own destiny,” said Rep.