Legislative leadership will continue negotiations this week to set next year’s budget. But, as with every year’s spending blueprint, legislators will figure out the big spending items first, then fit everything else around them.
The so-called “big rocks” are the big funding items that will determine how much extra money legislators will have to spend next year. That includes a proposed $170 million increase in public education spending made up of a $128 million boost in the weighted pupil unit (WPU) and nearly $42 million to cover next year’s student growth.
Senate President Stuart Adams says it’s remarkable that lawmakers are set to boost education spending by more than 5% without batting an eye.
“We normally boost education by two or three percent. This year we’re increasing the WPU by 4%, and adding another 1% on top of that without hesitation. That’s pretty remarkable,” he said.
Legislative leaders also have to allocate money for state employees to pay for the rising costs of healthcare benefits and find the funds for pay increases to at least cover the cost of living.
Lawmakers discovered they had less money to spend next year than initially thought when the consensus revenue projections earlier this month dropped a projected budget surplus of $1.3 billion by $200 million due to smaller than projected tax revenue. In addition to the drop, legislators took approximately $350 million out of the surplus to pay for the construction of the new Utah State Prison in Salt Lake City. The projected surplus was trimmed even further when legislative leaders put aside $300 million last year in case those rosy projections turned out to be a mirage – a move that seems especially prescient now.
The limited Medicaid expansion program passed by lawmakers at the start of the 2019 session takes another $72 million out of play, although a good portion of that money could be returned to future budgets if the Trump administration approves the waivers requested by the state which will reduce Utah’s financial stake in providing healthcare.
Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, the Senate chair of the powerful Executive Appropriations Committee, said ideally he would like to see the budget negotiations wrapped up by this coming Thursday, but realizes that may not be possible.
“We’ve got to take about 400 funding requests and pare them down to around 40 that we then prioritize,” he said. “We’re at the start of this, so we haven’t started talking about those 400 requests.”
Among those “400 requests” is $100 million requested by Gov. Gary Herbert in his budget proposal to address air quality issues. Budget negotiators are tamping down expectations, saying they probably won’t get near that lofty spending goal.
“We’re going to have to take a hard look at every one of those requests and really decide how we’re spending that money,” said Stevenson.
By rule, the Executive Appropriations Committee must make all of the decisions for the drafting of the final budget bill by this coming Friday.
