House approves multi-bill supplemental package that includes major education increases

The Utah House on March 6 approved a series of supplemental budget bills that together add substantial funding for the next fiscal year and for K–12 education.

Representative Mel Brown, the sponsor on several of the measures, described House Bill 2 as a ‘‘supplemental’’ that adds to previously adopted base budgets and lists tens of millions from multiple funds. He told members the bill includes roughly $53,685,700 in general fund ongoing dollars, $57,452,900 in one-time general fund, $66,079,600 from the education fund ongoing and $62,625,000 one-time education funding, plus about $674,922,800 in other funds. "This is a lot of money. A Very important bill," Brown said on the floor.

Members adopted a sequence of amendments on the floor. Representative Dougal’s amendment (adopted) adjusted intent language related to CHIPRA performance bonuses after receiving Department of Health requests. Representative Dee’s amendment added an appropriation to support the Utah Defense Alliance and Heller Air Force Base-related mission language; Representative Frower’s amendment adjusted capital-improvement intent language so qualifying campuses with proven infrastructure may reassign certain C.I. dollars; and Representative Last’s amendment increased a background-check fee from $13 to $15 to cover a fiscal note associated with another bill.

House Bill 2 passed by voice and recorded tallies reported later as passing the House with 75–0 (transmission to the Senate followed). The House separately passed House Bill 7, a current-school-year public-education supplement that funds educator growth and shifts federal Education Jobs allocations, 74–1. House Bill 9, covering state-agency and higher-education compensation items including a 1% equivalent for higher-education employees, passed 73–2.

The House also uncircled and debated Senate Bill 2 on the House floor; that measure, described by Representative Brown as a public-education budget amendment, provides an ongoing $71,285,700 from the education fund for items including student enrollment growth ($36.2 million, covering an estimated 5,953 weighted pupil units), a WPU increase and other adjustments. Representative Gibson and others asked how the increase relates to mandated retirement costs; Brown said the WPU increase is intended to help districts cover projected retirement cost increases while still funding growth.

Votes: HB2 (floor passage/amendments) — passed the House and was transmitted to the Senate; HB7 — passed 74–1; HB9 — passed 73–2; SB2 (public education amendments) — passed the House (recorded as 75–0 at the time of floor action and transmitted to the Senate). The bills were transmitted to the Senate for signature and enrollment.

Next steps: The measures will be considered by the Senate and returned for enrollment. Several appropriation items include intent language or one-time designations that will affect accounting and lapse/nonlapse treatment at fiscal year end.

Notes: This article summarizes floor-level appropriations and amendments recorded in the official House transcript. All vote tallies and amendment identifiers are taken from the floor record.