"Signatories on the application include Sen. Brian Shiozawa, R-Cottonwood Hieghts, and the Right Rev. Scott B. Hayashi, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah. The others are Beth Armstrong, executive director of the nonprofit People's Health Clinic in Park City; Alan Ormsby, directory of AARP in Utah; and Karina Brown, a Logan mother whose own mom was uninsured when she recently died at 64 years old.
Bishop Hayashi said he is optimistic the initiative will both make it to the ballot and pass.
"(Utahns) care deeply about each other," he said. "I'm very, very hopeful. … I know people are very compassionate."
Bishop Hayashi and other supporters of the initiative say they're encouraged by polling showing most Utahns favor Medicaid expansion.
"We're speaking directly to the people of Utah … after four years talking about it at the Capitol," he said.