On November 3, voters in Utah approved a constitutional amendment to modify the commencement date of the annual Utah legislative session.

Senate Joint Resolution 3, or Amendment F, amends the commencement of the legislature from the fourth Monday in January to a day in January designated by state statute.

Previously, if the state legislature wished to change the session start date, lawmakers would need to amend the state constitution by passing a constitutional amendment by a two-thirds vote of the legislature.

The amendment would then require statewide voter approval.

Under Amendment F, the legislature will be able to change the session start date in state statute, which requires a simple majority vote in the legislature and does not require voter approval.

The amendment also excludes state holidays that are not also federal holidays from counting toward the 45-day limit of annual general sessions.

Amendment F will take effect January 1, 2021.

As of 7:00 a.m. November 4, with more than 76% of the precincts reporting, the amendment passed 66.8% to 33%.