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House approves access for legislative fiscal staff to sanitized tax data with privacy safeguards
Summary
The House passed Senate Bill 3,002 to allow legislative fiscal analysts access to aggregate, sanitized tax commission data for improved fiscal notes; an amendment strengthening taxpayer privacy protections passed before final approval 65-0.
The Utah House passed Senate Bill 3,002, which authorizes certain legislative fiscal analysts and research staff to access aggregate, sanitized information from the State Tax Commission to improve fiscal notes and budget forecasting. Representative Harper, the sponsor, said the measure provides "more eyes" on revenue data and will help the Legislature produce better fiscal estimates.
Representative Christiansen offered Amendment 2 to enhance taxpayer privacy and limit the scope of requests and responses; both the sponsor and proponents described the amendment as a clarifying improvement to ensure privacy safeguards are symmetrical for requesters and responders. The sponsor said the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget was removed from the bill language because it already has statutory mechanisms to access tax data when deputized; the bill focuses on legislative staff access instead.
Floor debate emphasized the need for accurate fiscal notes and the balance between improved data access and privacy protections. The amendment passed and the measure was adopted by a recorded vote of 65 yes and 0 no; the bill will be returned to the Senate as amended.
