90% of state funding has been completed
Large portions have gone for education, repairing buildings
In addition, legislators opted to give money to pay for a financial literacy program for young students and said they intended to find funding for adult dental services.
With less than a week left until the session ends and less than two days before the deadline for finalizing the state budget, legislators are about 90 percent finished with funding items in the state budget, said Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, the Senate budget chairman.
He said the process has been difficult and said expectations were raised at the start of the session when the governor came out with a proposal to give teachers a 7 percent increase in the state's weighted pupil unit, or WPU.
But revenue estimates came in lower than anticipated and legislators had to choose whether to just fund education at that level and nothing else, or spread the dollars among other issues, Hillyard said. With the spending approved Wednesday, teachers stand to receive a $1,700 salary increase and a 2.5 percent increase in the WPU.
At present, other programs such as transportation have received no new dollars, although both House and Senate leadership say they are working on a deal to give roads some money. Wednesday, senators approved a bill to allow local governments in "second-class" counties such as Utah, Weber and Davis to raise their sales tax by 1/10th of a cent to fund road projects.
Other items left to be funded include some so-called tax-cut bills. One measure would give an $18 million cut in health-care costs for the self-employed. Another bill aims to give Delta and other airlines a tax break.
With much of the money spent, interest groups are fighting over the few million that remain.
During a press conference held Wednesday on the Hill, members of Utahns for Public Schools said they appreciated efforts to infuse more money into schools but called on legislators to resist tax cuts to allow more money for public education.
"We've gone down a path that is leading to eroding funds for our schools, and if we continue down that path it is going to be very difficult for our children in the future," said Lisa Johnson, spokeswoman for Utahns for Public Schools.
Contributing: Tiffany Erickson
E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com
You can be the first to comment on this story.