Sen. Lyle Hillyard says Utah lawmakers are going to have a tough time deciding how to set the state’s budget once new revenue estimates are announced Friday morning.
“I’ll be able to sit down with the committees who have approved $800 million in requests,” says Hillyard. “Assuming it (revenue estimates) remains the same, I’ll be able to tell them I have about $200 million, and can they help me spend that money wisely. That’s about a quarter of what everybody is asking for.”
Legislators did something different during the 2014 session, spending the first week or so focusing solely on budgeting issues. Hillyard says that experience has been tremendously valuable.
“It’s helped us locate money that hasn’t been spent and helped us understand the budget. Every member serves on one of these appropriation committees and it’s given them an idea how their agencies work and how to budget.”
