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House passes natural-resources, executive and social-services base budgets in unanimous votes
Summary
The House approved first-substitute base budgets for natural resources (SB5), executive offices and criminal justice (SB6), and social services (SB7) on Feb. 10 by unanimous or near-unanimous recorded votes; each sponsor summarized agency allocations and committee adjustments before the votes.
The Utah House of Representatives on Feb. 10 approved three first-substitute Senate base budgets on the morning floor: SB5 (natural resources, agriculture and DEQ), SB6 (executive offices and criminal justice), and SB7 (social services). Each bill was presented by the House sponsor and passed on recorded votes.
SB5: Representative McCall described the natural-resources substitute as the base budget for agencies that include Natural Resources, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Environmental Quality, SITLA (School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration), public lands and the Office of Energy Development. He said the substitute appropriates roughly $310 million for those agencies and moved several reclassifications and reallocations following the committee’s effectiveness review. The bill passed on a recorded vote of 75–0.
SB6: Representative Hutchings presented the base budget covering elected executive offices and public-safety agencies including corrections, courts, juvenile justice services and probation and parole. He said the committee conducted a 2 percent review and identified modest, targeted efficiencies; the House passed SB6 on a recorded vote of 74–0.
SB7: Representative Ray presented the social-services substitute, which the sponsor said appropriates about $4.5 billion for Health, Human Services, Workforce Services and the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation. The committee’s adjustments and reallocations produced available ongoing and one-time funds the sponsor said would be prioritized for higher needs. The House passed SB7 on a recorded vote of 74–0.
What this means: The three measures establish base allocations and re-prioritizations that staff and appropriations committees will use during final budget negotiations. Committee sponsors indicated additional prioritized requests will be evaluated and moved in subsequent actions.
Sources: Floor presentations and recorded votes as read into the House Journal on Feb. 10, 2015.
