Senate advances major appropriation measures: education and natural-resources budgets move forward

The Utah Senate spent a significant portion of the morning on appropriation bills, moving second substitute House Bill 1 (public education budget amendments) and House Bill 5 (Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environmental Quality base budget) through expedited floor procedures.

Senator Stevenson explained that the second substitute of House Bill 1 separated out initiative program line items and non-lapsing balances so those elements are identifiable in the appropriation language. The floor later recorded that second substitute House Bill 1 received 26 yeas, 0 nays and 3 absent and would be signed in open session and sent to the House for the speaker’s signature.

House Bill 5 was uncircled and presented by Senator Hinkins as a package of departmental appropriations for the Department of Natural Resources, Department of Environmental Quality, and Department of Agriculture. Senate action suspended the three-reading requirement and passed House Bill 5 by roll call with 26 yeas, 0 nays and 3 absent; the bill will be sent to the House for the speaker’s signature.

During the Committee of the Whole that followed, senators publicly thanked the legislative fiscal analysts and staff who prepared fiscal notes and appropriation bills—floor remarks emphasized the intensity of the staff workload and the role fiscal staff play in drafting, analyzing and printing bills and fiscal notes.

The Senate transmitted the adopted appropriation measures to the House and continued other calendar business later in the morning.