A new approach to handling the state budget, a shortened time frame for audits and faster drafting of legislative bills helped the three directors of legislative departments, who all are paid more than $100,000 annually, earn the same 2.5 percent raise already app- roved for other state workers.

Legislative leaders, acting as the Subcommittee on Oversight, approved the raises Wednesday morning during their semi-annual meeting after performance reviews of each of the directors. The three departments reviewed by the subcommittee were the Legislative Fiscal Analyst, Legislative Auditor General, and Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel.

Leaders were especially pleased with the fiscal analyst's handling of the "base budgeting" process, an essentially new budgeting method that was used during this year's general session. Using that method, legislators ideally will approve an initial budget — which is basically last year's budget, with minor modifications — early in the session and then focus their budgeting energies on spending the surplus money.

Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, said he believes the process worked very well for legislators because they had more time to focus on the budget, and is something they plan to use again next year. A lot of the credit for the success of base budgeting, however, was due to the fiscal analyst office because they had to prepare twice as many budget bills.

"We felt like it gave our people, and the minority party, a better opportunity for input," Valentine said. "It was a better process."

House Minority Leader Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake, agreed with the assessment that all legislators were more involved in the budget process because of base budgeting. He also credited the fiscal analyst's office for providing an analyst to both parties to help them review their budget proposals.

"We were able to focus early on the issues that were important to us," Becker said. "It helped establish a baseline, so we knew where the discretionary money could go."

John Massey, director of the fiscal analyst office, said that their goal was to get the appropriations subcommittees more involved in the budget process by providing better information. The base budgeting method helped them accomplish that, because the subcommittees were not distracted by the money already earmarked for projects, salaries, or programs — funds which comprise a large chunk of the more than $8 billion state budget.

"There's so much information, so in the past they (subcommittees) just went with what the analysts told them," Massey said. "We wanted to get the subcommittees more involved."

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