Analyst lowers revenue forecasts; House to direct appropriations committees to cut supplemental plans

Representative Glenn Brown, speaking for the analyst team, presented revised revenue projections to the Utah House that reduced expected receipts for the fiscal years under consideration.

Brown said the fiscal-year 1991 analyst projection is down $9.3 million; when combined with earlier adjustments, the total reduction from the governor's original projection is about $16.2 million. For fiscal year 1992, Brown reported an $12 million downward revision compared with the governor's earlier estimate (a reduction of roughly $17 million from the governor’s original plan, by Brown’s figures).

“Those are sizable numbers in a projected budget of about $1.7 billion, but they represent approximately eight-tenths of one percent adjustment,” Brown said. He and leadership urged a measured approach and told Appropriations committees to be prepared to implement reductions the same afternoon. Brown offered to distribute the analysts’ detailed projections by category to committees.

Members asked procedural questions about how reduction targets would be set and whether analysts would recommend line-item cuts. Leadership replied committees would be given a percentage or dollar target and be expected to determine where to apply reductions. A motion to recess for caucus followed.

Implications: leadership intends to direct committees to find further reductions in supplemental requests and prepare revised budget recommendations on a compressed schedule. The analyst's published packet will be distributed to members for use in committee deliberations.