House passes public education budget amendments adding raises, one‑time support for school staff and scholarships

The Utah House of Representatives passed House Bill 2, a supplemental public education appropriations bill, on March 3, approving changes the sponsor said add both ongoing and one‑time funding for teachers, school staff and student scholarships.

Representative White, the bill sponsor, told the House HB 2 provides an additional $47,400,000 in ongoing funding “for a direct salary increase to licensed educators.” White said that this funding equates to an “additional ongoing $12.75” that includes salary plus employer‑paid benefits, as presented on the House floor. He said the bill also adds one‑time funding of $445,200,000 to support school‑based education support professionals; White characterized that one‑time amount as resulting in an additional $1,275 per full‑time equivalent for roles such as paraprofessionals, bus drivers, custodians and food service workers.

White also said the bill dedicates tens of millions of dollars for student choice scholarships and other targeted programs. In his presentation he referenced $44,000,000 to expand student choice scholarships and said part of that amount will be ongoing, along with a separate $4,400,000 ongoing allocation for the Carson Smith scholarship account. The sponsor described more one‑time uses from the public education economic stabilization account including $12,500,000 for small district capital projects, $10,000,000 to help local education agencies ensure student information systems compliance, $7,300,000 for a “grow your own” educator pipeline, $3,600,000 for a charter school funding program, $3,500,000 for a statewide student credential account and $2,000,000 for K–12 computer science initiatives.

Representative White said the bill also transfers $269,300,000 from the professional staff WPU program to the flexible allocation program and includes several statutory coordination items to align with other public education budgeting laws.

Debate on the floor was limited; White waived summation. Voting was opened and, after the roll, House Bill 2 passed the House with 72 yea votes and 2 nay votes and will be transmitted to the Senate for consideration.

The bill as described on the floor contains a mix of ongoing and one‑time appropriations and several statutory clarifications; some numerical figures were presented in sequence during the sponsor’s floor remarks and may be summarized here as the sponsor stated them to the chamber.