Keeping House

by Representative Kraig Powell

May 21, 2009

For the first time in memory, members of the Utah Legislature were called to the Capitol to be sworn in two weeks early this year. The reason for the urgency is the state’s looming budget crisis.

When the legislative session officially began on Monday, January 26 (one week later than usual due to a new constitutional amendment), the current fiscal year was more than half over and the state was facing a one billion dollar shortfall.

This means that even before tackling an estimated 15 percent cut for fiscal year 2010, the Legislature must find savings of 5 to 10 percent for the current fiscal year (which ends in June), on top of the 4 percent that was already cut from this year in the September Special Session.

I have been appointed to the Appropriations Subcommittee for Health and Human Services, one of the areas expected to be hit the hardest by the budget cuts. My greatest concern on this committee is that the cuts proposed by the Governor’s office and legislative staff fall most heavily on the services provided by local county agencies, such as senior programs, mental health and substance abuse treatment.

Other programs largely run by state employees, such as child welfare and disability services, were proposed to be left largely untouched. This disproportionate approach would likely have resulted in eliminating senior citizen programs in Duchesne and Wasatch counties, including Meals on Wheels, and ending mental health and substance abuse treatment for most recipients in both counties at Northeast Counseling Center and Heber Valley Counseling.

In an appropriations meeting on January 21, I made a request that the committee’s proposal specify that all cuts be imposed equally on each division of Human Services: children, elderly, disabled, mental health, and so forth. Although the committee members commented that they would try to make the final budget bill as fair as possible, they were not willing to write the fair allocation provision into the bill. Because I felt that their approach left the local county agencies and providers at great risk of crippling cuts, I voted against the committee’s budget recommendations at the end of the meeting.

There are several interesting pieces of legislation being introduced this year, which I will explore in this column in upcoming weeks during the 45-day legislative session, but by far the overriding focus is managing this budget crisis. I will be speaking out vigorously as the base budget is debated this week to preserve funding for our local county providers and services, and also to protect public and higher education.

If you have questions or concerns about any legislative issues, please e-mail me at kraigpowell [at] utah.gov or call me at 435-657-0185.