Between now and March 14, lawmakers will decide how to spend an estimated $1 billion surplus from the state’s income tax, money that the Utah Constitution requires be spent on public education.
But at least one outcome from the 2019 session is a virtual certainty: School funding will not increase by $1 billion.
Gov. Gary Herbert’s budget calls for a roughly $500 million boost to public and higher education, generally similar to the budget requests of the Utah Board of Education and Board of Regents.
And while education funding bumps typically differ from the surplus dollars in the education fund, the discrepancy is heightened this year by the sales tax effectively running dry, leaving scant dollars in the state’s general fund.