Legislative leaders nearing agreement on transportation funding
At issue is whether Utah should borrow more than $1 billion to fund infrastructure projects.
(Leah Hogsten | Tribune file photo) Utah Transit Authority riders board the FrontRunner train in Ogden on Monday, Dec. 7, 2020. Last week, House leaders introduced a massive $2.26 billion proposal to fund roads, transit and other infrastructure projects.
| March 2, 2021, 1:53 a.m.
As Utah lawmakers prepare to finish the budget for next year, the biggest sticking point is whether to borrow $1.4 billion to pay for several transportation and transit projects over the next few years. But, House and Senate leaders are close to breaking their impasse on the issue.
Despite a rosy budget picture, lawmakers have more requests for spending than cash available
Public education and social services are chewing up most of the extra revenue.
(Rick Bowmer | AP file photo) Utah lawmakers will soon gather at the state Capitol to begin the process of setting the final budget for the next fiscal year. Despite projections showing they ll have more than a billion dollars in extra revenue to spend, public education and social services will take up a majority of that revenue. | Updated: 2:55 p.m.
Next week starts an intense two-week period as legislators make moves on setting Utah’s final budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.
What will lawmakers spend your tax dollars on? The first decisions on next year’s budget are coming later this week.
Legislators are sifting through hundreds of millions of dollars of appropriations requests.
(Francisco Kjolseth | Tribune file photo) Members of the House of Representatives recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the Utah Capitol in this Jan. 19, 2021, file photo.
| Feb. 10, 2021, 1:00 p.m.
The midpoint of the 2021 Utah Legislature is later this week, which means lawmakers are finalizing their priority spending lists for your tax dollars before the final budget is approved in the coming weeks.
Legislative leaders will vote on the appropriation requests later this week.