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Gov. Huntsman calls Utah Legislature into special session to rebalance education, Medicaid and federal funds
Summary
Governor John M. Huntsman Jr. issued a proclamation convening the 50th Legislature’s first special session in May 2009 to address education appropriations, Medicaid hospital provider rates, ARRA fund reallocations and other budget and technical corrections.
Salt Lake City — Governor John M. Huntsman Jr. on a proclamation read to the House named a slate of budget and statutory items that require immediate legislative attention and called the 50th Legislature into its first special session at the Utah State Capitol in May 2009 at 2:00 p.m.
The proclamation, read to the House by an official from the Office of the Governor, cited Article VII, Section 6 of the Utah Constitution as authority to convene the special session. It lists 15 purposes that include making appropriations in the minimum school program, reallocating education stabilization funds derived from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), and adjusting Medicaid hospital provider rates for fiscal year 2010.
Why it matters: the items named by the governor would allow lawmakers to reallocate ARRA education stabilization funds, revisit the minimum school program budget for the current fiscal year, and make technical corrections and transfers that affect multiple state funds. Several items proposed changes to how federal funds and restricted revenues are classified and transferred among the General Fund, Education Fund and Uniform School Fund.
Key details from the proclamation: the governor asked the Legislature to
- adopt appropriations contained in House Bill 2 (minimum school program) and to reallocate ARRA education stabilization funds; - address Medicaid hospital provider rates and related adjustments to the Department of Health and Human Services (including the Division of Juvenile Justice Services) to offset federal Medicaid assistance estimates; - reclassify certain accounts and move funding for a housing grant program into a restricted special revenue fund and change the effective date of that appropriation; - accelerate certain transfers from the severance tax holding account to the General Fund and adjust the disposition of motor vehicle registration fee revenue enacted in the 2009 general session; - appropriate funds to cover implementation costs of legislation passed earlier in the year and to advise and consent to gubernatorial appointments transmitted under Utah Code; - make technical corrections to public notice requirements, restore language in the Open and Public Meetings Act related to notice, and consider apportioning up to $1,200,000 in Forest Service special-project payments to county special service districts; - consider modifications to the Employment Selection Procedures Act relating to employers’ ability to provide or request certain applicant information and to consider limited exceptions allowing owners of agricultural land in less-populated counties to create minor subdivisions regardless of local planning and zoning under specified circumstances.
The proclamation was signed by Governor Huntsman and certified by Lieutenant Governor Gary R. Herbert, who also certified that the House membership remained the same as at the end of the 2009 general session.
What happens next: Following the proclamation, the House organized, established a quorum and adopted rules for the special session. Legislators introduced several House bills tied to items in the proclamation and placed some on an accelerated calendar for immediate consideration.
