From Deseret News archives:

Utah spending not out of line

Published: Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008 12:03 a.m. MST
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
State spending in Utah has grown significantly in recent years, but there are different ways to view this.

One is the view the Utah Taxpayers Association presents in its monthly newsletter: that this growth is attributable to the governor. Yes, it is true the governor has a great deal of influence over the budget. He presents his proposal before the legislative session begins, hoping to set a tone. But it is more true that the final budget is a combined effort of the executive and legislative branches of government.

Another view is that all growth beyond what reasonably could be attributed to growth and inflation is unnecessary. This is a view often taken by the libertarian CATO Institute in Washington, which annually assigns letter grades to the nation's governors. Years ago, the group gave former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt a D, in part because he agreed to raise gas taxes to pay for the reconstruction of I-15.

Anyone with knowledge of the state at that time understood the need for a new freeway, especially with the Winter Olympics on the way.

Story continues below
Any assessment of today's state expenditures has to take into account Utah's uniquely high level of school-aged children, which also accounts for a good portion of the annual growth rate. It also has to take into account the state's infrastructure needs, especially in light of the growth in vehicular traffic. And it also needs to put the responsibility on lawmakers as well as the governor.

As the Utah Taxpayers Association report says, Huntsman's administration has benefitted from a healthy economy, and it has responded to "pressure to compensate for the lean years" during the early part of this decade. His administration also has presided over large tax cuts, the credit for which also belongs partly to lawmakers.

One would be hard-pressed to characterize Utah's leaders as spending money like drunken sailors. Utah isn't Washington. Every year, the final budget has to balance. Still, we're not unsympathetic to the concerns of the more conservative members of the Legislature. One of them, Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, told this paper he worries the state can't sustain such spending when a slowdown comes.

Education, infrastructure, corrections, social services — these and other needs demand attention. But the 8.9 percent growth under Huntsman's administration, viewed in light of tax cuts and a 5.8 percent growth in population and inflation, doesn't seem terribly out of line.

Recent comments

You forgot to mention that the person in charge of the Utah Taxpayers...

informant | Jan. 10, 2008 at 6:13 a.m.

previousnext

Latest comments

"You are the very epitome of self-indulgence liberal crassness. You care...

WVC welcomes the holidays

I thought it was a great parade. Isn't it the only one in Salt Lake County?...

is struggling in some aspects of his game. We saw what he did last year early...

Having explored caves as a youth and spent 31 yrs working occasionally...

How do the Utes continue to do this? They are bad enough to lose to lousy...

A little help here. Harmon says Utah should be on a 3-0 win streak. I assume...

Boys basketball rankings

disgruntled parents need to stay off the blogs...

Honk if you intercepted Max Hall.

however it pertinent to look at their schedule and then look at ours. Because...

and there are no ute fans, only bandwagon fans, nice try though

Advertisements