Proposal to create new Utah Debate Committee fails to move forward

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah lawmakers voted not to advance a plan that would effectively sideline the group in charge of running political debates and create a state-run one instead.

HB557, sponsored by Rep. Nelson Abbott, R-Orem, failed to pass out of the House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee on Friday. Lawmakers then voted 7-4 to hold the bill. It could still be brought back in the final days of the legislative session, which ends March 7.

Abbot's proposal sought to create a new Utah Debate Committee made up of 11 appointees – seven from Republicans, four from Democrats. Abbott asked for $600,000 in state funding over two years to pay for the new committee.

"If we're going to use state taxpayer money to fund debates, we should try to get the most bang for the buck that we can," Abbott told KSL-TV earlier Friday prior to the committee vote.

Under the bill, the committee would work with Utah Valley University – and, Abbott said, perhaps the University of Utah – to run the debates.

"In the bill, it says these debates need to be nonpartisan," Abbott said. "I think putting it into a university is a good place to have a nonpartisan environment because we have students that are going to be involved from both political persuasions."

But the new committee seemed to sideline the Utah Debate Commission, a nonprofit that's been organizing debates for 10 years.

"We are the gold standard of independent, nonpartisan debates around the country," said Becky Edwards, a former state lawmaker who is a co-chairwoman of the Utah Debate Commission.

Edwards said last year more than a dozen debates were held – with all candidates participating. However, during the primary election cycle in 2022, multiple Republicans didn't show up.

"We remain a trusted source of information for people across the state," Edwards said, "and I think our product speaks for itself."

Ahead of the unsuccessful committee hearing, Abbott's proposal had garnered support from top leaders in both the House and the Senate. Funding priorities released late Friday even showed money set aside for the Utah Debate Committee, but not for the Utah Debate Commission.

"I think it's a better spot for them to be embedded into the universities rather than the debate commission," Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said Friday.

Adams was also critical of the current debate commission.

"I think it's been sometimes functional, sometimes not," Adams said. "I think we need a debate commission that has consistency to it."

But Edwards said she hoped nothing would happen now, and that this discussion can continue over the next year.

"It's more important to get it right than to get it fast," Edwards said. "That applies here. Let's do it right."

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