Hello friends and colleagues! 

I’m back from maternity leave and looking forward to jumping back into things. A big thanks to the WFRC team, who kept things moving while I was away! In this update, you’ll find an overview and highlights from Utah Governor Spencer Cox’s released Fiscal Year 2026 budget and policy recommendations, some information from the Executive Appropriation Committee’s pre-session meeting, a look ahead to the upcoming Legislative Session, and a quick federal appropriations update. 

The Governor announced his Fiscal Year 2026 budget and policy recommendations last week, not only looking ahead to his next term but reflecting on his first term and highlighting some of the significant appropriations and policies that he spearheaded or were enacted by his legislative counterparts. Notably highlighted was the $4.6 billion in transportation spending between 2021 and 2024 (see more of this below). 

Looking forward, the FY26 budget focuses on three pillars: People, Places, and Prosperity, which are reflected in the following key priority policies: 1) eliminating the social security tax, 2) doubling energy production, and 3) proactive innovation, quality service, and fiscal responsibility. 

Generally, the budget recommendations are less focused on growth-related policy areas of transportation and housing than they have been in recent years but still strongly focus on water, homelessness, and education. Here are a few notable recommendations:

• $3M to UDOT for Surplus Property Sales Acceleration: The topic of using state surplus property to further address housing needs has come up in proposals from the Commission on Housing Affordability and with the Governor’s Senior Housing Advisor, Steve Waldrip.
• Develop Utah Housing Strategic Plan, with the first phase expected in early January (WFRC has been engaged in the collaborative work to develop this plan, along with partners from the cities, counties, and private sector).
• Evaluating alternatives to the property tax to decrease the burden on primary residences and encourage home ownership.
• $2M to UDOT for Aircraft Charging Stations: In 2025, the FAA is expected to certify Electric Conventional Take Off and Landing Aircrafts. This recommendation continues Utah’s track record in innovation.
• $651,100 for Air Quality: to study wind-blown dust health risks associated with the Great Salt Lake.
• $34.3M for Water and Watershed, including $16M to acquire water leases for the Great Salt Lake and $10M for dam safety repairs. 

Executive Appropriations Committee Update Consensus Revenue Estimates

The Executive Appropriations Committee (EAC) met this week to release the updated revenue estimates and direct the drafting of appropriation subcommittee base budgets. According to the consensus revenue estimates, there is an anticipated $55M in available new one-time revenue and $489M in new ongoing revenue for the upcoming legislative session. However, the EAC directed the legislative fiscal analyst staff to include base budget changes and set-asides (also known as the “big rocks”), including tax reductions, which reduced any one-time or ongoing revenue surplus to a net zero amount for future total budget actions. Though final consensus revenue estimates will be released in February during the State’s General Legislative Session, this provides a framework for appropriators to work within. However, the “net zero” in new revenue truly signals that this is indeed a “socks and underwear” type of year, as the EAC Chairs have so often described the budget in years past (see more on state revenue estimates).

Lookahead to the 2025 Legislative Session

The countdown begins as we are merely five weeks away from the start of the 2025 General Legislative Session. The House and Senate also recently announced legislative committee assignments. Representative Kay Christofferson will be chairing the House Transportation Committee, with Representative Ariel Defay as Vice Chair, while Senator Wayne Harper will continue to Chair Senate Transportation. Notably, the Infrastructure and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee has now split into two appropriations committees – the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (T&I) and the General Government Appropriations Subcommittee. WFRC and our transportation partners look forward to working with the T&I committee and believe it will be a beneficial change, allowing for more time and attention on transportation and infrastructure issues. 

With the Governor’s budget now released, we also anticipate the House and Senate Majority and Minority Caucuses to release their 2025 Legislative Session Policy Priorities in the coming weeks. And though the Governor’s Budget and EAC actions may not exactly predict what to expect out of the upcoming session, as of right now, there are limited funding and policy proposals out there related to transportation. That said, as highlighted in the Governor’s budget lookback, the $4.6 billion in stable transportation investments over the past four years have put us in an excellent financial position to advance key projects today and in the years ahead. The ongoing funding provided through the state’s Transportation Investment Fund (TIF), Transit Transportation Investment Fund (TTIF), and Active Transportation Investment Fund (ATIF) provides stability in funding multimodal projects. Here are some of the key transportation funding highlights from the last several years that continue to keep Utah moving:

• (2021 GS) $1.1B in Transportation Infrastructure, including $333.6M to the doubletracking of FrontRunner and $35M for Active Transportation Projects.
• (2022 GS) $1.2B in Transportation Investment, including $721M to advance state road projects and $382M for transit projects like FrontRunner and Point of the Mountain.
• (2023 GS) Over $1B in Transportation Investment, including $800M in Transportation Debt Service to free up existing funds, and establishing the Active Transportation Investment Fund (ATIF) with $45M ongoing.
• (2024 GS) Over $1B in Transportation investment, including $330M ongoing to the Transit Transportation Investment Fund for Commuter Rail.

As we prepare for the upcoming session, we are currently tracking legislative bill files that appear to be related to transportation, land use, air quality, housing, and economic development (issues encompassed in the Wasatch Choice Vision) through our WFRC 2025 Bill Tracker. As a reminder, you can find previous years' bill trackers, bill summaries, and legislative session wrap-ups on our Government Affairs webpage. 

Upcoming Partner Events

• January 22 - Utah League of Cities and Towns (ULCT) Local Officials Day
• January 24 - Transit Day on the Hill
• February 5 - Utah Association of Counties (UAC) County Day on the Hill

Congress faces another urgent deadline of passing an FY25 appropriations bill with a government shutdown deadline roughly a week away. However, with a limited number of days to negotiate, it is looking more certain that Congress will extend current funding levels into early 2025 with another continuing resolution (CR). In deferring final action into next year, so, Republican leadership would have more control in determining appropriation bill details with a Republican-led House, Senate, and White House. The pressure is on, however, to pull together the stopgap CR so members can make it home for the holidays. Lawmakers have until December 20th to act.

It’s good to be back! I hope you enjoy this holiday season!

Best wishes,

Miranda Jones Cox

Government Affairs Manager