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On Solid Ground: How the Public Education Budget Framework Provides Stability

During the 2020 General Session, the Legislature passed H.B. 357, “Public Education Funding Stabilization.” The bill, which was contingent on the passage of Constitutional Amendment...
December 20, 2024

Drowning in Fiscal Notes? Try FiNs!

During the 2024 interim, the Legislative staff have been hard at work designing and testing a new fiscal note system, intended to improve the user...
December 6, 2024

LFA Publishes Summary of Governor’s Budget Recommendations for the 2025 General Session

On Thursday, December 5th, Governor Spencer Cox released his Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Recommendations, and in doing so formally kicked off the budget season. In...
December 5, 2024

Late Autumn Revenues Fall Short of Projections

On Wednesday, November 20th, legislative and executive branch economists released the revenue update for November, detailing collections for the first four months of Fiscal Year...
November 20, 2024

The Severance Reference: Mapping Oil, Gas, and Mining Taxes in the Budget

The tax generated by the sale of oil and natural gas, and the mining of various compounds is a complicated, and widely discussed piece of...
November 15, 2024

At Your Service: Statewide Internal Service Funds

You may recall last August when we discussed Internal Service Funds (ISFs) as they relate to the Attorney General’s Office.  Today, we take a step...
November 8, 2024

TIF Talk: Understanding the Lingo of Transportation Funding

The Transportation Investment Fund of 2005 (or TIF for short) is one of the largest accounts in the state budget, with revenues of over $3.2...
November 1, 2024

Trust the Process: Prepping Budgets for the General Session

During the Legislative "off season," appropriations subcommittees are hard at work diving into the nitty-gritty, budgetary details that no General Session allows enough time to...
October 18, 2024

The Story on Scholarships: Utah’s Tuition Assistance for Higher Education

Within the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE), the Legislature actively funds 13 scholarship programs centrally located and overseen by the Utah Board of Higher...
October 11, 2024

Q&A with LFA: the Top 5 Questions Answered by the Fiscal Health Dashboard

The Fiscal Health Dashboard is a one-stop shop for legislators and constituents to answer questions about Utah’s current and long-term financial position. The Legislative Fiscal...
October 4, 2024

Au Courant on Appropriations: Changes to Subcommittees and State Grant Processes

This fall, the leaves won’t be the only thing changing around the Capitol. During the 2024 General Session, the Legislature passed both a resolution and...
September 27, 2024

A Higher Standard: How the 2024 New Funding Follow-Up Report Helps Improve Outcomes

When the Legislature appropriates new funding for a project, it’s kind of like your family setting out on a road trip to your favorite theme...
September 20, 2024