Tuesday September 13, 2022

With summer now come and gone, I'm back from maternity leave and things are picking up quickly! This update will provide a brief outlook on federal activities, and share how things are progressing with pre-state-legislative-session policy proposals and discussions.

Although the general legislative session doesn’t begin until January 2023, important policy discussions and preparations have been underway for months now. Legislators and state economists are keeping an eye on the potential significant revenue surplus that the state is anticipated to see yet again. The $1.4 billion dollar surplus estimate has some wondering if another tax cut is on the horizon, and how spending plans will be impacted by economic uncertainty.

Also on the legislative agenda during the interim is the Unified Economic Opportunity Commission and its various subgroups, along with the Legislature’s interim committees which have met to study various policy issues. Those discussions are now coming to a head and will ultimately inform the discussions and legislation we are bound to see in the general session. Here’s a quick recap of some of the groups and where things are headed:

Unified Economic Opportunity Commission (UEOC)

The full UEOC met at the beginning of August to hear preliminary reports and recommendations from its various subgroups, including the Growth and Transportation subgroup and the Commission on Housing Affordability.

WFRC has been heavily engaged in the Growth and Transportation Subgroup and its three internal working groups including the Regional Growth Alignment Subgroup, the Transportation Funding Subgroup, and the Infrastructure Investment Visioning Subgroup. 

The Commission on Housing Affordability also continues to meet with its Attainable Housing, Low Income Housing, and Rural Housing subgroups. 

Recommendations for various transportation, growth, and housing-related policies from the subgroups will soon be shared with the broader UEOC when they meet again later this month on September 28th. The UEOC will then propose items under consideration to legislative interim committees, or to the Governor’s Budget, which further demonstrates how influential in the policy-making process these working groups and subgroups are. 

As final recommendations from these groups begin to emerge, we will certainly keep you apprised. If you'd like more details on the work of the UEOC subgroups, please let us know.

Legislative Interim

After taking July off, the Legislature met again in August for interim meetings. Worth noting was the robust discussion in the Transportation Interim Committee hearing about rail safety and transportation funding. WFRC, along with UDOT, MAG, ULCT and UAC, were asked to testify to the Interim Committee about transportation funding in Utah, including current funding sources, needs, revenues, and future outlook as identified in Utah’s Unified Transportation Plan, which is now being updated..

The legislature is set to meet again in interim on September 20th and 21st. They’ll meet two more times in October and November in preparation for the General Legislative Session.

Little Cottonwood Canyon Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) has released the Final EIS and 14,000+ public comments received during the Draft EIS comment periods and identified Gondola Alternative B, with proposed phasing, as the preferred alternative to improve transportation in the canyon. UDOT has determined that this alternative best meets the project purpose and provides the highest travel reliability for the public. Following a 45-day comment period for the Final EIS, UDOT will formally select an alternative for implementation in a separate Record of Decision (ROD) this winter. Though funding for the gondola has not been identified, in 2020, the Legislature created the Cottonwood Canyons Transportation Investment Fund (CCTIF), which sets aside up to $20 million dollars annually for the transportation alternative in the cottonwoods.

WFRC was recently visited by a number of staff members from our Congressional Delegation offices to discuss the Wasatch Choice Vision, Utah’s Unified Transportation Plan, and opportunities in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). We appreciated having our partners from the Utah Department of Transportation, Utah Transit Authority, and the Mountainland Association of Governments also join in these conversations. These important discussions with our federal partners continue to highlight Utah’s excellence in planning for, and prioritizing Utah’s future.

Congress

As the August recess comes to a close for Congress, and with an anticipated break during the month of October for campaigning ahead of the midterm election in November, lawmakers have a short timeframe to accomplish some key priorities. With the end of the federal fiscal year approaching on September 30, Congressional leaders have started drafting a short-term continuing resolution (CR) for the budget. It is expected to be introduced as early as this week, and is intended to fund the federal government at current levels through mid-December. This tentative timeline would give lawmakers three weeks to secure necessary support in both chambers to pass the short-term CR and avoid a partial government shutdown when the new fiscal year (FY) 2023 begins on Saturday, October 1, 2022. Lawmakers will need 60 votes in the Senate to pass any measure, which could prove to be a complicated process.

Other items Congress may try to tackle during the September work period include the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), additional pandemic and Ukraine aid, energy pipeline permitting legislation, and FDA User Fee reauthorization. As you can see, Congress is in for a very busy September.

Federal Grants and IIJA Implementation

A number of federal grant programs included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) have grant proposal deadlines nearing in the coming weeks. Most notably are the Bridge Investment Program, the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Grant Program and the Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Program (SS4A). WFRC, on behalf of our region, is pursuing an SS4A Safety Action Plan Grant. If awarded funding, and upon completion of the plan, communities in the region would then be eligible to apply for SS4A capital project funding to support the safety of our roads and streets for all roadway users. 

If you are still uncertain of the transportation funding opportunities available to you and your community through the IIJA, the Federal Highway Administration recently released a Competitive Grant Funding Matrix which may be helpful in understanding the programs, their respective deadlines, and your eligibility further. Additionally, the National League of Cities (NLC) established a grant bootcamp to provide technical assistance to help small and mid-sized cities and towns access federal infrastructure dollars. You can also sign up for our Federal Funding newsletter, browse our Federal Funding website, or subscribe to the GOPB IIJA coordination newsletter or website. And as always, if you have any questions or ideas, please let us know!

It’s Good To Be Back

After nearly three months away on maternity leave, I’m back and excited to pick up where I left off. My husband and I welcomed a happy and healthy baby girl (Lucy) into the world at the beginning of June, and our lives have been wonderful, if not sleepless, ever since. Though I missed the good work going on here at WFRC, I was grateful to have spent that time focused on our family. A special thanks to all those who sent warm wishes, kind thoughts, and helpful parenting advice! Also, a big thanks to my supportive colleagues at WFRC who kept things moving while I was away.

Glad to be back with you all again.

Best,

Miranda Jones Cox