The Utah Legislature adjourned on the 45th day of a General Session which was groundbreaking in many ways. Utah’s $23.5 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2022 includes $10 billion in spending from the General and Education funds, and nearly $7 billion from Federal funds. During a pandemic, the Utah legislature was able to fund very notable investments for the state, which include:
- -Nearly $100 million in tax cuts,
- -Public education enrollment growth and inflation (and restored a 6% increase in per-student funding),
- -$121 million for public school teacher stipends,
- -$127 million ongoing for public education economic stabilization,
- -Nearly half a billion dollars for public education,
- -A more than 9% increase for higher education,
- -$200 million in new cash-funded building and land purchases,
- -$1.1 billion for roads and transit,
- -$36.5 million for two new state parks (a third of that with investment earnings and not taxes),
- -$110 million to renovate existing state parks and create new trails, bike lanes, and pedestrian pathways,
- -$56 million for wildfire suppression,
- -3% raises for state and higher education employees,
- -Targeted increases for front-line workers in social service agencies, public safety, and corrections,
- -Fully funded growth and inflation in Medicaid (and fixed a $56 million structural imbalance in Medicaid expansion),
- -$26 million in new ongoing funding to enhance mental health services,
- -$50 million in tax proceeds, securing a total of $730 million in combined public-private funding for housing and homelessness, and
- -$250 million to address the pandemic, including economic development assistance, rural broadband expansion, testing, and vaccine distribution.
There are a number of resources available for the public and legislators to understand more about Fiscal Year 2021 and 2022 funding:
Budget Quick Facts – A pocket-sized guide to the budget.
Budget in Bullets – Highlights of the state budget overall as well as detail for each appropriations subcommittee.
DataViz – An interactive graphical representation of the budget. View the budget by sources, uses, and new money. Click a bubble to see how that item has changed over time, and in what bills it changed. Search for budget requests and find where it exists in appropriations bills.
Compendium of Budget Information (COBI) – A complete guide to the Utah State budget. Find budget requests on the Issues tab, and Line item/program budgets on the Financials tab.