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Senate passes $8.3 billion public education base budget, raises WPU to $4,674
Summary
The Utah Senate voted to pass Senate Bill 1, the public education base budget for fiscal year 2026, funding more than $8.3 billion overall, increasing the weighted pupil unit (WPU) to $4,674 and allocating both one‑time and ongoing funds for teacher time and supplies.
The Utah Senate passed Senate Bill 1 on a suspension of the rules, sending the public education base budget to the House after a 25–0 recorded vote with four senators absent. Senator Baldry presented the measure as the primary operating budget for public schools for fiscal year 2026.
SB1 appropriates more than $8.3 billion in total funding for FY2026, including roughly $5.0 billion from state funds and $3.3 billion from other sources such as restricted revenues, local property tax revenue, federal funds and dedicated credits. The bill includes roughly $149.6 million in FY2025 adjustments, with $3.5 million from the Uniform School Fund and $146.1 million from other sources (mostly non‑lapsing balance adjustments).
Among the policy and funding items spelled out in the bill, the Legislature set the weighted pupil unit (WPU) value at $4,674 for FY2026, up from $4,494 in FY2025. The budget deposits $51.4 million ongoing into the public education economic stabilization account and appropriates $181.1 million from that restricted account for one‑time purposes including a $95.0 million mid‑year formula update and $77.7 million for increased educator professional time (32 additional hours per educator). The bill also provides funding for teacher supplies and materials (initial one‑time amounts with a $5.5 million ongoing addition noted).
The bill makes technical statutory amendments to statutory reporting deadlines for the State Board of Education, clarifies procedures for adjusting per‑teacher allocations if insufficient funding exists, and updates estimated revenue targets and the basic tax rate for FY2026. Sponsors and supporters framed the adjustments as necessary to reflect projected enrollment changes (the bill text projected fall 2025 enrollment at 661,003, down about 7,814 students or 1.17%) and to preserve the state‑local funding mix supporting the WPU framework.
Senator Baldry moved the final passage under suspension of the rules after a brief floor exchange; Senator Riebe asked to follow up offline on a capital/local levy line. With the Senate’s passage, SB1 will proceed to the House for further consideration.
The next procedural step is consideration by the House; no amendments or vetoes were recorded on the Senate floor during this session.
