Today is the last official day of the 2006 Legislative Session in Utah.
Today lawmakers will be facing decision-making on these issues:
House
Senate
According to the Deseret News report, what is likely not to receive funding:
Regarding the $9 billion fiscal budget:
The Executive Appropriations Committee approved an additional $100 million in spending Tuesday. But negotiations continue between Senate and House majority Republicans over some $250 million that is expected to go toward tax cuts ($160 million) and roads ($90 million.)
Senate Democrats attempted Tuesday evening to boost funding for human services needs. But in what Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley, described as “a shame on us,” all of the Democrats’ amendments failed, and the supplemental funding bill eventually passed the Senate 21-5.
There were also approximately $500,000 in fiscal note bills funded Tuesday by the Executive Appropriations Committee.
Primarily small expenditures, those fiscal note bills included a $22,500 raise for Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert, $100,000 for an additional child pornography enforcement officer, $93,000 for underage drinking prevention, and $50,000 for translation services at the Center for Multi-Cultural Health.
There is $20 million remaining in one-time funds that have not been claimed. The Senate and House will each receive $1.5 million to fund some of their own projects.
The final $17 million will probably go to either the Rainy Day Fund, which the House Republican caucus supports, or to roads, which the Senate caucus supports.
Some House members fear the government is growing too rapidly and they want to save the cash.
According to budget numbers released to the Deseret Morning News, the state’s two main funds — the General Fund and the Uniform School Fund — will grow by 9.6 percent for the 2006-2007 budget, which starts July 1. That would most likely exceed a statutory cap on growth, which is tied to population and inflation increases.
