March 10, 2011 Newsletter

2011 Session Summary Forty‐five
 days
 start
 to
 finish,
 $12
 billion
 dollars
 spent
and
nearly
500
bills
 passed.
 
 The
 2011
 legislative
 session
 is
 now
 complete
 and
 in
 the
 history
 books.
 The
 most
 important
 duty
 of
 the
 Legislature
 is
 to
 pass
 a
 balanced
 budget,
something 
we 
did
 this 
year 
as 
we 
do
 every 
year.
 One
 of
 the
 biggest
 budget
 challenges
 this
 year
 was 
deciding 
what
 to 
do 
about
 the 
$313
 million
 deficit
 that
 existed
 at
 the
 beginning
 of
 the
 session.
 The
 recession,
 while
 weakening
 like
 a
 spent
storm,
is
 still
having 
a
 negative 
impact
on
 State
 revenues.
 The
 early
 options
 for
 dealing
 with
 the
 deficit
 were:
 cut
 budgets
 up
 to
 7%,
 spend
 some
 of
 the
 Rainy
 Day
 Fund,
 raise
 taxes,
 or
 some
 combination
 of
 these
 choice.
 While
 considering
 these
 options,
 we
 kept
 our
 fingers
 crossed
 that
 the
 final
 revenue
 projections
 would
 reveal
 an
 improving
 economy
 through
 the
 New 
Year.

 Economic
 recovery
 was
 on
 our
 side
 and
 the
 final
 revenue
 projections
 showed
 an
 increase 
in 
both 
on‐going
 and 
one‐time
 funding
 sources,
 narrowing
 our
 budget
 gap
 to
 about
 $50
 million.
 Who
 would
 have
 thought
 that
 one
 day a
 $50 
million
 dollar
 deficit
would 
have
been
 cause
 for
 celebration?
 At
 this
 point
 we
 are
 one
 of
 only
 six
 states
 that
 still
 holds
 a
 AAA
 bond
 rating.
 At
 the
 beginning
 of
 the
 recession,
 41
 states 
had
rainy
 day 
funds 
and 
reserves
 that
 totaled
 at
 least
 5
 percent
 of
 their
 budgets.
 By
 2010,
 only
 22
 states
 had
 reserves
 at
 all
 according
 to
 the
 Center
 on
 Budget
 and
 Policy
 Priorities.
 We
 will
 finish
 the
 session
 with
 just
 over
 $200
 million
 still
 available
 in
 our
 Rainy
 Day
 Fund.

 Given
 the
 stark
 realities
 of
 the
 budget
 picture,
 I
 am
 very
 pleased
 to
 report
 that
for
the
first
time
in
three
years
we
were
 able
 to
 fund
 enrollment
 growth
 in
 our
 public
 schools.
 Nearly
 14,000
 new
 students
 are
 expected
 to
 enter
 Utah
 schools
 next
 year.
 
 While
 our
 public
 education
 budget
 is
 relatively
 flat,
 this
 injection
 of
 enrollment
 growth
cash
will
help
fund
the
new
teachers
 necessary
 to
 absorb
 the
 new
 students
 into
 our
 schools.
 We
 hope
 that
 next
 year’s
 budget
 will
 allow
 for
 increased
 spending
 in
 this
 area
 so
 we
 can
 reduce
 classroom
 size
 and
fund
education
initiatives.

 Medicaid
 is 
another 
area 
of 
State
 spending 
that
 saw 
an 
increase
 in 
funding,
 however
this
 is 
 a 
reason 
for 
alarm 
rather
 than 
celebration.
This
 budget 
will 
increase
 by 
4.1%
due 
to 
caseload
 growth,
the
 expiration 
of 
federal
 stimulus
 funding
 and
 new 
federal
program 
requirements.

At
 current
 growth 
rates,
it 
will 
not 
be 
long
 before 
Medicaid
replaces 
public
 education
 in
 the 
top‐spending
 category.
 The
 Legislature 
is 
starting 
a
process
 this 
year 
to
 cap
 Medicaid
 per
 enrollee
 spending 
to 
no more than the growth of the overall general fund and to take advantage of payment plans that incentivize cost and outcomes rather than a fee based on the number of procedures performed. Immigration reform occupied much of our efforts this session. This has been a very difficult and emotional issue. In the end, the Legislature voted for a package of bills that addressed the issue from both economic and enforcement perspectives. The package included two different guest worker programs; one that would require a federal waiver to implement and another that would contract directly with the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon for skilled migrant labor. The package includes requirements that police check the immigration status of people detained or arrested for felonies and class A misdemeanors and gives police the discretion to check the status of those suspected for class B and class C misdemeanors. It also contains penalties for employers that fail to verify the lawful presence of workers and new provisions on in- state tuition rates for illegal immigrant children and children of guest workers. The package of bills doesn’t go as far as some would have liked and does far more than others might be comfortable with. In the end, this is very much a compromise package that would be much better with a federal immigration solution. We will be back on the Hill again very soon to hold hearings on HB 477, Government Records Amendments, which deals with access to public records. This has been a hot topic in the final week and the Legislature recognizes we need a little more time to find the appropriate balance on which records should be considered private. The Governor has pledged to call us back into a Special Session in June to make the appropriate changes to the law after the public hearings in the spring. If you have issues or concerns you think we ought to address, please feel free to contact me. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to represent you on Capitol Hill.