Utah budget plan would “keep the lights on” but not much more - Salt Lake Tribune

A roughly $20 billion state budget plan expected to be released Friday will “keep the lights on” and take care of Utah’s most pressing needs but may do little beyond that, one of its primary architects says.

Uncertainty over the coronavirus and the constraints of Utah’s budgeting system have lawmakers treading carefully as they craft a spending plan this year, Sen. Jerry Stevenson told reporters Friday.

“As this whole session has unwound ... this shadow of the coronavirus has been floating around. And then we’ve also had this thing that’s taken place in the stock market,” said the Layton Republican, who heads the Legislature’s chief appropriations committee. “But we’re really worried about what this could turn into.”

Stevenson said he and other lawmakers assigned each funding request a number, with category one covering the costs essential to keep the government running and category two covering things that were “really necessary.” The third and fourth categories were for less urgent items.

The forthcoming budget proposal will allot funding only to requests in the top two groups, Stevenson said. It will provide salary increases for state employees, he said, and officials yesterday announced they were setting aside $16.5 million for Utah’s coronavirus response.

Rep. Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, said that constraints in the state’s general fund led to several worthwhile programs being left out of the budget. He said lawmakers attempted to focus on education, salary increases for state employees and mental health services.

“We’re going to try to make an effort there with the limited resources that we have,” he said.

Still undetermined is how lawmakers will use the $80 million they previously reserved for a potential tax cut. Their options are to move forward with a rate reduction, give residents a one-time rebate or sock the money away in case it’s needed to prop up the budget later on.

Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said he’d like to offer tax relief, but only if it’s responsible given the current economic climate, while Stevenson’s preference is to save the money.

“Remember, the money we’re spending is what we anticipate collecting, not what we have in our pockets,” Stevenson told reporters. “And as a result, if that money doesn’t come in, we’re going to have to come in and create a balanced budget. ... So that’s what makes us nervous about tax cuts.”

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House Speaker Brad Wilson hedged on the topic of a tax cut on Friday, telling House Democrats that he did not want to discuss specifics in earshot of the media, but that it may be prudent for the state to set aside funds in the event that a recession or economic slowdown occurs.

“There are storm clouds on the horizon,” Wilson said. “We’ve seen them. We can feel them.”

Lawmakers have complained about the shortage of funds for most government expenses this year, a consequence, they say, of a constitutional earmark that reserves plentiful income tax revenues for public and higher education costs. And the state could really be in hot water if income tax revenues tank, since there’s not much in the general fund to shore up school spending, Stevenson said.

In light of these concerns, legislators are now weighing a constitutional change, SJR9, that would loosen income tax restrictions, letting them spend education dollars "to support children and to support individuals with a disability.”

Wilson, R-Kaysville, met with members of the House Minority Caucus on Friday to discuss the budget and proposed education funding changes. He said the current budget moves roughly $100 million of sales tax money out of the higher education budget — and replaces it with income tax funding — bringing the state within roughly $200 million of a fiscal cliff.

Democratic representatives asked why the state would enact new policy that is dependent on a public vote, rather than wait until the vote is concluded. But Wilson said it is better for educators to know what to expect in the event the state constitution’s earmark on income tax funding is lifted.

“If I’m in the education community,” Wilson said, “I want to know what framework I’m operating under before this goes on the ballot.”

These budget struggles come after lawmakers last year made two attempts to fix what they called a “structural imbalance” in the state’s revenue streams.

This story will be updated.

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