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A Most Remarkable Budget Year
The good times just keep rolling in Utah. True, no one can ever get everything they want out of a Utah legislative session, and there will be plenty of disappointed people and unfunded requests by session’s end.
But let’s keep things in perspective. This year may come the closest I’ve ever seen in 30 years of observing the legislative process that ALL the big areas most important to the state get substantial funding. It’s the most remarkable revenue and budgeting year in my experience.
You know things are rosy when the basic needs of the state, including growth in education and social services, can be adequately funded; plus a major investment can be made in transportation infrastructure; plus a healthy investment can be made in the state’s economic future (USTAR); AND a significant tax cut can be given to taxpayers.
It is quite unprecedented. I’ve never seen all of those things come together in a single year. There have been many years when the state has struggled to barely fund basic needs and growth. There have been some healthy years when taxes have been cut. Some years the state has been able to invest in transportation and buildings. But never has it all come together like it has this year.
It’s important to remember, of course, that the good times won’t last forever. That’s why large increases must not be built into the base budgets of agencies. And that’s why now is the time to invest in transportation and economic development in the high-tech sector, so Utah has a firm foundation on which a strong economy can thrive even if the national economy slows.
Utah’s boom time is due to many factors, internal and external, so no one ought to break an arm patting themselves on the back for the remarkable economy. But it’s still worth pausing for a second, contemplating the wonder of it all, perhaps indulging in a big smile, before getting back to work.
Blog Watch
Reach Upward says: "We should work to preserve our short legislative session and maintain the part-time status of our state representatives and senators. It makes for good government" (see also here)... Pete Ashdown has a post on GRAMA... The UAC blog says HB15 is on its death bed... Rep. Lorie Fowlke has a post on Utah's worker climate... Wilf Sommerkorn spots some SB170-related goings-on in Oregon and Washington (see also here)... Paul Rolly reports: "Salt Lake City Prosecutor Sim Gill has hired seasoned political strategist Jim Gonzales, partner in the Target Group, to coordinate his campaign for the Democratic nomination to become Salt Lake County District Attorney"... Dee's 'Dotes has a post on the feds' licensing of PFS (see also here)... Utah Conservative thinks the proposed lobbyist gift ban is unnecessary, but Woods Cross Citizen disagrees.
Washington Watch
Hatch: Asbestos Litigation Bad, HSAs Good
Sen. Orrin Hatch says asbestos litigation has "made a mockery of our judicial system" (see press release); calls Health Savings Accounts a step toward bringing America's archaic employer-based health system "into the new economy" (Wall Street Journal).
Ashdown Presentation at UVSC
Senate candidate Pete Ashdown will speak to the Utah Valley Linux Users Group meeting this Saturday at 12:30 pm in Room CS404 at UVSC . The announced title of his presentation is "Democracy 2.0: Open Source Government". For more info, click here.
2008 Session Planned for Capitol
Interesting lengthy story in the on-line Intermountain Contractor magazine on the State Capitol reconstruction project. The $212 million restoration is planned for completion so the 2008 Legislature can meet in the Capitol. The project includes a complex base isolation system to keep the building safe in an earthquake. Maintaining the historical integrity of the Capitol is a major goal of the project.
National Politics
The Six-Year Itch
In a National Journal on-line column, Charlie Cook looks at the historical data on congressional losses and gains in the mid-term elections of a president’s sixth year in office. It doesn’t look very good for Republicans. |
