The Utah Legislature called a special session this week to deal with the fallout from Judge Diana Gibson's redistricting ruling—and their solution was to change the rules of the game.

If you haven't been following along: Gibson ruled last month that the legislature's 2021 congressional maps were unconstitutional because lawmakers illegally overturned Proposition 4, the voter-approved redistricting reform. She imposed new maps. The legislature, unsurprisingly, was not pleased.

Their response in Tuesday's special session? Move the congressional filing deadline to buy time for appeals, change court rules so they can appeal immediately, and route any future election lawsuits directly to the state Supreme Court, bypassing lower courts entirely.

They're playing Calvinball—changing the rules as they go.

Why They Really Repealed the Union Busting Bill

The special session also saw lawmakers repeal HB 267, the controversial bill that would have gutted public employee union organizing. But this wasn't a change of heart.

Labor unions collected referendum signatures at a stunning pace, and lawmakers took notice. With two ballot measures they care about coming in 2026—a GOP-backed effort to repeal Prop 4 and a constitutional amendment giving the legislature power to override voter initiatives—they didn't want to give union organizers a reason to mobilize voters against them.

The calculus was simple: remove the lightning rod now, rather than face an energized opposition at the polls next year.

Listen to the Full Breakdown

We cover all of this on the latest episode of Special Session—redistricting appeals, the union bill strategy, tax policy, and why the compressed congressional timeline benefits well-known candidates at the expense of newcomers.

Listen now at this link, or wherever you get your podcasts.