In recent years, there have been several referendums placed on the ballot by groups of citizens that felt that the Utah legislature was not listening to them. After passing these referendums at the ballot box, the legislature still went to the effort to reverse or weaken the laws/programs created by these referendums.
The legislature also recently voted to increase the sales tax on food as part of a tax overhaul bill. Utahns then started another referendum to repeal that tax increase. The legislature, feeling the pressure, voted to repeal the ill conceived tax reform law that they had just passed.
Rather than listening to the people, the legislature has since made efforts to make it harder for citizens to put a referendum on the ballot.
Referendums are a symptom. The Republican supermajority is the disease. We need to eliminate that supermajority and balance out the power in our state government. This will help our elected representatives focus on representing individuals instead of special interests.