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House passes measure allowing limited budget flexibility for higher education
Summary
The Utah House passed HB432 on March 3, 2009, authorizing higher-education institutions limited flexibility to reallocate certain reduced line items (up to 1.5% of reduced amounts) and making technical UCAT JobsNow funding changes; the bill passed the House 70–0 and moves to the Senate.
The Utah House of Representatives on March 3 passed House Bill 432, which gives higher-education institutions constrained authority to move funds within their budgets to respond to this year’s reductions.
Representative Holdaway, sponsor of the bill, told the chamber HB432 aims to give college presidents and administrators flexibility to manage a 17.5 percent reduction in higher-education appropriations compared with last year. Under the measure institutions may reallocate up to 1.5 percent of the amount that was reduced among line items and consider cost-saving measures such as furloughs, reductions in force, benefit adjustments, program discontinuance and early-retirement incentives.
Holdaway cited research on the long-term return on state investment in higher education and said the measure is intended to preserve the state’s workforce-development capacity while letting campuses absorb tight budgets. The bill also makes technical changes to funding for UCAT’s JobsNow short-term training program and moves related control previously held by the Board of Regents.
There was brief floor discussion before an up-or-down recorded vote. The House approved HB432 70–0; the bill was ordered transmitted to the Senate for further consideration.
Next steps: HB432 will be considered by the Utah Senate; the House vote does not by itself change appropriations until enacted into law.
