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Appropriations
The legislature wrapped their second week of appropriation subcommittee hearings this week with the passage of their base budget bills – the funding bills which include a continuation of the core of existing, ongoing state appropriations. They also continued to hear requests for new appropriations from various agency and community entities. We anticipate that they may begin to rank their budget priorities near the end of next week. Once ranked, each subcommittee will send their lists to the Executive Appropriations Committee for further consideration in the final funding bills.
A few funding items worth watching advance our priorities for multimodal transportation investments including roadway, transit, and active transportation. A number of these recommendations were included in the Governor’s proposed budget, and/or are supported by the Unified Economic Opportunity Commission (UEOC).
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Utah Trail Network ($100M): This request includes $55 million in one-time General Funds to seed a new Active Transportation Investment Fund (ATIF), and ~$45 million of ongoing annual funding. This would not be a new General Fund appropriation, rather it would be a transfer of 5% of the amount that is annually deposited into the existing Transportation Investment Fund (TIF) into the ATIF. This ongoing funding is essential to provide a stable and predictable funding source to build and maintain state-owned paved trails throughout the state. The trail network would build on and connect to previous active transportation investments to further connect our communities and increase quality of life. You can find more information about the request and please sign onto a letter of support HERE.
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Transportation debt payments ($400M): The Governor’s proposed budget includes $400 million to pay existing General Obligation transportation debt. This would free up currently obligated transportation funds to be used for projects rather than for debt service.
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Corridor Preservation ($100M): Additional one-time funding for corridor preservation would allow the state to purchase land and right-of-way now to better plan for and accommodate growth well into the future.
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Zero Fare Transit Pilot ($25.5M): The Governor’s proposed budget includes a recommendation for a statewide zero fare transit pilot. The pilot would allow all transit providers in the state, not just UTA, to suspend fare collection on transit for one year. It also proposed to study the impacts of having zero fares for transit on ridership, air quality, and other factors.
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Local Administrative Advisor Program ($1.58M): The Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget (GOPB) presented the shared Local Administrative Advisor Program appropriation request to the Executive Offices and Criminal Justice (EOCJ) subcommittee on Friday. This program, which has been developed in consultation with the Utah League of Cities and Towns, would provide assistance to local governments across the state that do not have city managers (currently 145 cities and towns). Utah’s seven Associations of Governments reached out to the EOCJ committee members this week in support of this appropriation.
Legislation You Should Know About
As a reminder, you can stay up to speed on the legislation that has either a direct or indirect impact to the work of WFRC and its partners with our WFRC 2023 Bill Tracker which is updated regularly. The tracker shares brief summaries, bill status, and WFRC’s positions of “support,” “oppose,” or “neutral”. Those indicated as a high priority in the tracker are those that we’re more presently engaged in, or which directly impacts the work we do at WFRC. A few of those high priority bills include:
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SB 84 Housing and Transit Reinvestment Zone Amendments (Harper): This bill makes a number of changes to the Housing and Transit Reinvestment Zone statute. HTRZ enables a portion of incremental tax revenue growth to be captured over a period of time to support costs of development around light rail, commuter rail, and bus rapid transit (BRT) stations. With HTRZs now being proposed and implemented, this bill seeks to further clarify requirements of the proposal and analysis. You can find a summary of these changes HERE.
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SB 27, Transportation Revisions (Harper): This bill is a transportation omnibus bill that provides a number of changes, including: (1) Clarifications to the Station Area Planning statute, as created in HB462 of the 2022 general session, (2) Reducing the TTIF match rate from 40% to 20%, (3) Requiring certain safety measures in relation to snow plows, and makes various technical changes to Utah Department of Transportation code.
We are also awaiting the release of a number of bills, such as:
- Commission on Housing Affordability (CHA) bill (or bills) which will include changes related to affordable and attainable housing.
- UEOC-related legislation, including creation of the ATIF (mentioned above), additional funding for the State Infrastructure Bank (SIB), and other items.
- Potential modifications to the “5th 5th” (.20%) local option transportation sales tax, which now can only be used for public transit, but could be broadened for use for city and county transportation needs as well.
In addition to our own bill tracker, you can find the Utah League of Cities and Towns bill tracker HERE, and the Utah Association of Counties bill tracker HERE.
Please Support: Utah Trail Network
This year, as the legislature considers authorizing additional investments in Utah’s transportation systems, a broad coalition of community leaders representing public, private, and community stakeholders across Utah are joining together to urge the state to invest in the Utah’s active transportation system by funding the Utah Trail Network. The Trail Network proposal would invest $100 million in paved biking and walking trails in FY24, with $45 million ongoing in annual transportation funds, and a one-time general fund investment of $55 million.
Please show your support for the trail network by adding your name to this LETTER!
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