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Senate passes supplemental appropriations package after contentious debate over Salt Lake City baseball funding
Summary
The Senate approved a broad supplemental appropriations package that included a contested $1.8 million one‑time grant for a Salt Lake City baseball facility; supporters called it an investment in jobs and revenue, opponents said offsets reduced funds available for schools, juvenile services and contingency reserves.
The Utah Senate passed a large supplemental appropriations bill on March 3, 1993, after extended floor debate over allocations ranging across education, infrastructure and local projects. A heavily discussed item in the package was approximately $1.8 million in one‑time assistance to Salt Lake City for a proposed baseball facility.
Senator McAllister, speaking on the floor, described the appropriations bill as a summary of multiple fiscal decisions and said it spent available funds, emphasizing that the bill would terminate available discretionary balances. "This bill summarizes all of the fiscal impacts of other bills and spends the last of our available money," McAllister said.
Supporters defended the Salt Lake City investment as an economic stimulus and noted projected fiscal benefits. One senator calculated a $262,000 annual fiscal benefit to the state that would yield a multi‑year payback assuming modest rates of return. "It will pay back to the state in 7 years if you calculate at 4% interest," a floor speaker said in favor.
Opponents warned that the appropriation required shifting money from priorities such as the critical and continuing building fund and small school supplementals. Senator Barrett and others noted cuts to juvenile services, youth‑at‑risk funding, and probation officer positions that remained unfunded in the package. "We lost $1,000,000 out of the youth at risk task force," one senator said, urging colleagues to consider the tradeoffs.
The transcript includes a fiscal summary noting total appropriations in the package at $39,531,582 (as listed in the bill's fiscal note). After debate and an amendment providing non‑lapsing language for a small attorney general contingency item, the Senate approved the appropriations package by roll call (the clerk recorded 21 ayes, 8 nays). The bill will be returned to the House for its action and transmittal to the governor.
Members said they would continue to press for clarity on offsets and to prioritize statutory contingency needs where necessary.
