Senate passes Appropriations Act, moves bill to House

The Utah Senate passed Senate Bill 1, the annual Appropriations Act, on March 2 and referred it to the House for further consideration following several technical amendments.

Senator Blackcomb, presenting the bill, described SB 1 as the culmination of appropriation negotiations conducted during the legislative session. She noted retirement funding for certain categories was excluded pending resolution of a separate related bill. “We left out the retirement money because we didn’t know if that bill on law enforcement related to pension fund is going to pass or not, so it's not included,” Blackcomb said.

Senator Demetrij successfully offered a narrow technical amendment replacing the phrase "interlocal agencies" with "associations of governments" in the bill text; the amendment passed with no objection. Floor questions focused on specific allocations — for example, whether the attorney general’s office received a cost-of-living adjustment and the partial-year funding for highway patrol increases; Blackcomb confirmed allocations while noting some intent language might alter reported spending.

After additional technical typo corrections, the Senate read SB 1 under suspension of the rules for second and third consideration and recorded final passage by roll call: 22 ayes, 2 nays, 5 absent. The Appropriations Act will be transmitted to the House for concurrence and further action.

Next steps: SB 1 will be transmitted to the House with the Senate’s adopted technical amendments. Related retirement and personnel funding issues remain subject to companion bills and may be resolved in bill-of-bills or conference committee action.