The 2021 Utah Legislature rings in the session on January 19. A preview shows lawmakers are prepared to come through with all the Amendment G election promises for education funding.
In November, voters approved Amendment G, which changes the Utah constitutional requirement to distribute income tax revenue solely to education. Park City School District Business Administrator Todd Hauber says with the passage of the amendment; House Bill 357 goes into effect. He explains:
"The effects of House Bill 357 are first; enrollment growth is automatically funded, which the Executive Appropriations did in December. It also automatically funds the inflationary adjustment to the value of the WPU. So those two are both in place. A third piece is that it provides funding into a economic reserve account should there be future economic downturns and less money available. It provides funding for that. Those things would not have taken place if Amendment G had not passed."
Amendment G was supported by the Utah State Board of Education and the Utah Education Association, the largest state teacher's union. Some stakeholders were concerned that under HB 357, public education funding would be watered down.
"The part that people worry about is that there are now two other classifications of eligibility for the funds--children and people and individuals with disabilities. The question is, are they getting any of the money that they haven't received before, and at this point, the executive appropriations have not increased those program areas. And the governor's budget does not appear to have increased those program areas either. So, the concern side doesn't seem to have materialized yet."
Through the funding plan for 2021, the legislature is living up to a promise made last year to increase the WPU by 6%.
"When we left the general session, there was going to be like a 6% increase in the value of the WPU. But then, through the special sessions, they were going to whittle it back to nothing. And then in the last special session, they did increase it by 1.3%, but they made a promise that they would make up that remaining amount as soon as possible."
Hauber says the per-pupil spending in Utah will increase from the current $3,596 to $3,820 but still leaves the state ranked last in the nation.
The 2021 legislature meets Tuesday, January 19 through Friday, March 5.
