- Utah lawmakers propose $31B budget with tax cuts and increased education funding.
- Proposals include income tax reduction to 4.45%, saving families $45 annually.
- Democrats oppose tax cuts, urging funds for services amid high living costs in Utah.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah lawmakers are moving ahead with a slew of tax cuts, including a sixth straight income tax reduction, according to budget proposals unveiled Friday evening.
During a meeting of the Executive Appropriations Committee, top lawmakers laid out the framework of the roughly $31 billion state budget. The budget will be finalized over the next few days and voted on before the legislative session ends next Friday.
Ahead of that, the committee formally approved spending $124 million to cut the state's corporate and income tax from 4.5% to 4.45%. That is estimated to save a typical Utah family around $45 a year.
Lawmakers also voted to set aside over $7 million to expand the child tax credit, along with nearly $3 million to fund a tax credit for businesses that offer child care benefits or build child care facilities.
None of those tax cut proposals have fully passed yet, but they are moving through the legislative process. Republican leaders previously expressed optimism about further tax cuts when the latest revenue projections came in higher than expected, showing Utah had an extra $213 million in one-time and ongoing funding.
Democrats have opposed an additional income tax cut, along with other groups who urged legislators to spend that money on services and programs that will help Utahns with the high cost of living.
"There's no way you can work as hard as we have the last five or six weeks and not feel really good about what we accomplished," said Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, the Senate budget chairman. "We're balanced. We're not spending a bunch of money."
Additionally, the powerful legislative committee on Friday signaled their support for raising the tax on nicotine and tobacco products by factoring in a projected increase to the state budget of more than $40 million from the move. That bill, HB337, has passed the House of Representatives but has not yet passed the Senate.
The state budget also factors in a revenue increase of $4 million from HB77 by changing income tax credits. Closing a loophole that has allowed some video streaming services to avoid paying sales tax on certain purchases could net the state $2.4 million in the next fiscal year and $3.4 million going forward.
The proposed budget also adds funding for an expansion of the state's judiciary, which passed early in the legislative session and has already been signed into law.
The committee also approved another $10 million for the state's first-time homebuyer program, which was a high priority for Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton. Under that program, first-time homebuyers can get up to $20,000 to spend on a down payment, closing costs or buying down the interest rate on a newly-constructed home.
Lawmakers set aside close to $23 million for a proposed homeless campus during the last session, but much of that money was reallocated in the current proposal to several other homeless service programs for emergency shelter, criminal justice and mental health.
Homeless services is on track to secure another $16 million in ongoing funds for those categories.
Prior to the legislative session, Republican leaders directed each spending committee to propose 5% spending cuts, but some of that funding was backfilled as it was available, Stevenson said.
However, one of the cuts is to an $18 million program for teachers and school administrators to help them effectively implement technology for teaching and learning. Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, opposed that.
"I'm concerned with all the bills right now to provide security in our schools and guardrails that this is where we actually implement and train to provide safety in our school technology programs," Riebe told KSL, calling it a "big cut."
Other cuts include $1.4 million from the Utah Industry Resource Alliance, nearly $1.1 million from water resources incentive programs, $650,000 from the STEM Action Center, $500,000 from the Rural Single-Family Rehabilitation Assistance Program, $259,000 from Capitol Hill operations and maintenance, and $203,000 from an air quality outreach campaign.
During the committee meeting, House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, pointed out that public education will receive a 5.1% increase in this year's budget.
