What's in Utah's $30 billion budget? Here's what lawmakers are prioritizing for 2025

Yahoo

01-03-2025

The rotunda inside the Capitol in Salt Lake City is pictured on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
With just seven days left in the Utah Legislature's 2025 general session, Republican legislative leaders have unveiled the list that everyone's been waiting for: the final budget recommendations for the 2025 fiscal year that begins in July.
The powerful budgetary body that decides how to spend state money, the Executive Appropriations Committee, released that list Friday night after appropriations subcommittees and legislative leaders spent weeks deciding what would get funded — and what wouldn't.
Facing a down revenue forecast, which led legislative leaders to warn this year would mean limited extra funds to go around, the Executive Appropriations list was full of reallocations, with lawmakers taking unspent money from some programs to fund others.
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In the end, legislative leaders came up with recommendations for about $149.1 million in ongoing money and $503.8 million in one-time money — on top of the roughly $30 million base budget that lawmakers already approved earlier in the session to fund existing operations and other priorities that the Executive Appropriations Committee already decided to pay for.
It's not over until the clock runs out. Lawmakers will spend the next week finalizing the budget before the session must adjourn before midnight on March 7, but Friday's list represents most of what will get new money.
That new appropriations list includes tens of millions for certain education programs — including $40 million more in coveted ongoing money for the controversial Utah Fits All Scholarship program, meant to provide eligible students with up to $8,000 for homeschooling, private school or other education-related expenses. That program's constitutionality is currently being hashed out in court under a lawsuit brought by the Utah Education Association, Utah's largest teacher union.
The list also included $50 million for a $1,446 salary increase for teachers, plus $50 million for $1,000 bonuses for educator support staff, which Gov. Spencer Cox and Republican legislative leaders paraded in a news conference Friday morning.
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What the list didn't include? No additional revenue to go above the 4% weighted pupil unit increase that was already funded in the base budget to the tune of $178 million — which was the minimum the state was required by law to fund for inflation and enrollment growth. The Utah Education Association wanted at least a 3% increase to the WPU in addition to the statutorily required minimum.
The WPU is the per-pupil rate used to calculate how much money each school should receive.
The list also included millions more for some of the priorities the governor included in his budget recommendation, but many of them were funded at a fraction of what he wanted. For example, Cox got some money — but not all of what he recommended — for geothermal and nuclear energy production and for homelessness needs.
Cox also wants to fully repeal the state's tax on Social Security benefits to the tune of about $143 million, but it's sounding likely that lawmakers are looking to only partially peel back that tax.
In December, the Executive Appropriations Committee set aside about $165 million for some type of tax cut. So far, the bill that's made the most progress through the legislative session is HB106, which would drop the state's income tax rate from 4.55% to 4.5%, expand the child tax credit to children up to 5 years old, and enact a nonrefundable corporate and individual tax crest for employers that provide child care. That would cost the state about $103 million in ongoing money.
Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, recently told reporters in a media availability that lawmakers are leaning toward both an income tax rate cut and a partial repeal of the state's tax on Social Security on benefits — but it remains to be seen what lawmakers land on.
If lawmakers cut income taxes again this year, it will mark the fifth year of tax cuts, amounting to more than $1.3 billion in revenue that Utah lawmakers have foregone. While proponents favor letting Utahns and businesses keep their dollars, critics argue income tax cuts disproportionately benefit the wealthy.
According to an analysis posted by the advocacy group Voices for Utah Children, this year's tax cut will save Utah's top 1% earners (or those making more than $882,100 a year) $1,929 annually, while the bottom 20% (or those earning up to $36,000 a year) will save only $13 a year. When factoring the four previous tax cuts, the top 1% has saved $17,361, while the bottom 20% has saved only $106 a year.
'We are investing in teachers, cutting taxes and funding essential programs while being fiscally responsible,' Adams said in a prepared statement. 'This budget reflects Utah's values — responsibility, innovation and forward-thinking investments. By making strategic decisions today, we are safeguarding our economy for future generations and ensuring the Utah Dream remains achievable for all who call our great state home.'
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One legislator, Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, voted against the EAC's budget recommendations Friday night.
Riebe told Utah News Dispatch she was left frustrated by the list of appropriations, which she said included 'high value numbers' for specific programs favored by legislative leaders that could have otherwise been used to more broadly benefit education needs, like the WPU. She also expressed frustration with giving another $40 million to the Utah Fits All Scholarship program, even as it's being litigated.
'We have the largest class sizes in the nation, and so any money we could have put towards that class size reduction would have been much better use of our funds,' Riebe said.
Riebe was also frustrated by the teacher bonuses announced earlier Friday, which she called 'impromptu' and not discussed as part of the Legislature's regular appropriations request process.
'I'm sorry, the teachers want to have better working conditions. That's what they're working toward,' she said.
Senate Budget Chair Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, said lawmakers are balancing fiscal discipline with investing for the future.
'By maintaining fiscal discipline while making critical investments, we are ensuring Utah's long-term prosperity,' Stevenson said. 'This budget keeps our state on a path of sustainable growth, economic opportunity and a high quality of life for all Utahns.'
Here's some highlights of what the Executive Appropriations Committee's recommendations included:
$65 million in one-time money to fund HB447, a bill sponsored by House Speaker Mike Schultz to create the Catalyst Center Grant Program for school districts to create 'catalyst centers' to provide 'profession-based learning experiences.'
$40 million in ongoing funding to 'accommodate demand' for the Utah Fits All Scholarship. The original request was for $80 million.
$27 million in one-time money to fund HB260, a bill to create the First Credential program meant to enhance workforce readiness for students.
$25 million in one-time money to help school districts meet school safety needs. The original request was for $130 million.
$50 million in one-time money for a deposit into the State School Trust Lands account to generate future investments for schools.
$10 million in one-time money for a statewide student information system for K-12 education. The original request was for $20 million.
$50 million in ongoing money for educator salaries.
$50 million in one-time money for educator support staff bonuses.
$5 million in one-time money for HB42, a bill to provide emergency funding to schools with an uptick in students needing to learn English.
$7.3 million in one-time money for the Grow Your Own Educator Pipeline program, which school districts can access for scholarships for paraprofessionals, school counselor assistants, and school counselor interns to become licensed teachers and counselors.
$20 million in one-time money for Utah's first-time home buyer program.
$1.9 million in ongoing money to fund operations for a new family shelter in South Salt Lake. The original request was $3.8 million.
$5.5 million in one-time money to fund emergency homeless shelters through summer and next winter. The original request was $11 million in one-time money and $2 million in ongoing money.
$2 million in one-time money to fund election changes in HB300, a bill to implement voter ID requirements and transition away from automatic voting by mail by 2028.
$1.42 million to pay for newspaper publications of proposed constitutional amendments for the 2026 election.
$5.5 million in one-time money for the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine in St. George.
$3.7 million to Utah Valley University to help facilitate and track cancer screenings for firefighters as part of HB65.
$600,000 fund HB557, which would create a new Utah Debate Committee at Utah Valley University.
$551,100 to fund SB334, a bill to create the Center for Civic Excellence at Utah State University.
$1.75 million in one-time money for Operation Gigawatt to expand geothermal energy production. The original request was for $4.2 million.
$1.75 million in one-time money for Operation Gigawatt to expand nuclear energy production. The original request was for $20 million.
$2 million in one-time money and $200,000 in ongoing money to fund the Utah Center for Advanced Energy Research and Development.
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