Budgeting

Appropriations

Budget of the State of Utah

This comprehensive report provides a snapshot of legislative budget actions and the state's financial condition. Statute requires the Legislative Fiscal Analyst to complete the report annually.

Utah Budget Quick Facts Card

This pocket-sided summary provides a snapshot of legislative budget actions during the most recent general session (occasionally, this is updated during significant special sessions).

Appropriations Bills

These pieces of legislation, typically the first ten House and Senate bill numbers in each session, officially authorize expenditure of taxpayer resources. These acts include: base budget bills, compensation bills, agencies fees and internal service fund rate bills, supplemental appropriations, and the "bill of bills".

Requests for Appropriations by Legislator

A legislator wishing to obtain funding for a project, program, or entity, without enacting an associated statutory change, may file a request for appropriation with the Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst. Each request is reviewed by the LFA and considered by a subcommittee during the annual general session. This report shows Requests for Appropriation (or RFAs) summarized according to the legislator who requested the funding.

Interactive Budget Visualization

This interactive tool shows Utah's budget by line item. It contains budget data for multiple sessions in a visually consumable format and offers keyword searches.

Budget Slideshow

This file provides a high-level summary of the latest state budget, ideal for Legislator adaptation and use at town hall meetings, conferences, or other speaking engagements.

Fund Balances

The Legislature creates restricted accounts within its major funds for various statewide purposes. Agencies also request authorization to retain unspent amounts, carrying a balance between fiscal years. The reports below detail the yearend balances for restricted accounts within state funds as well as nonlapsing amounts in operating and capital line items.

Subcommittees

Budget Priority Lists

These documents rank order budget changes according to the affirmed priorities of an appropriations subcommittee. The Executive Appropriations Committee and various caucuses use the lists to compile a unified balanced budget. (JR3-2-402)

Compendium of Budget Information (COBI)

This online resource details Utah's budget and related financial authorizations. It contains summaries of issues faced by legislators, performance measures, background information (including references to statutory authority), and financial history. It is provided as a companion to appropriations bills considered by the Utah State Legislature.

Appropriations Committees

These links direct to all meetings and actions of the Executive Appropriations Committee and topical appropriations subcommittees. Meeting materials include agendas, minutes, audio/video recordings, reports, and presentations.

Fiscal Notes and Regulatory Impact Analyses

A fiscal note estimates the direct and measurable costs, savings, revenue gains, or revenue losses associated with implementing a piece of legislation. Fiscal notes are required for every piece of legislation and show impacts for state agencies, local governments, individuals, and businesses. A fiscal note is not a price tag, a cost/benefit analysis, or a funding trigger. Fiscal Notes are not intended to influence the passage of a bill. Regulatory Impact analyses are included on fiscal notes and indicate whether a proposed bill will change regulatory burden for Utah residents and businesses, and if so, whether a bill increases or decreases the burden and whether the change in burden is high, medium, or low.

Standard fiscal notes estimate three years of impact and assume no behavior change. Dynamic fiscal notes project for more than three years and provide four hypothetical scenarios for what might happen in the economy if individuals and businesses change their behavior as the result of a bill. Dynamic fiscal notes are done by legislator request only.

Prior to each General Session, the Legislative Fiscal Analyst trains stakeholders who provide input for Fiscal Notes and regulatory impact analyses. The training covers requirements for each type of note, information on the latest changes to those requirements, and a thorough review of the interactive software program used to submit input. (UCA 36-12-13(2); JR4-2-403)