2011 Legislature: Budget, immigration biggest legislative issues

SALT LAKE CITY — When the 2011 Legislature begins Monday, much of the focus will be on immigration, an issue that's dominated the headlines for months.

But lawmakers are also talking tough on another topic that's not attracting anywhere near as much attention — the state budget.

Senate Majority Whip Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, said voters in Utah and across the country have given elected officials a mandate in November to get government spending under control.

"The tough-guy label, so to speak, is reflective of, I believe, the people," Niederhauser said. "We were hearing without any question — and a lot of this was energy being released about the federal government —get your fiscal house in order."

Republicans are turning their backs on GOP Gov. Gary Herbert's $11.9 billion spending plan that relies on a one-time increase in income tax collections and a rosy revenue forecast to avoid another year of budget cuts.

Their concern is the so-called structural imbalance created by some $313 million in federal stimulus funds and other one-time revenues that won't be available in the new budget year that begins July 1.

Already, legislative budget committees are asking state agencies to come up with as much as 10 percent in possible cuts so they can adopt a balanced base budget in the first days of the session.

And GOP leaders tried unsuccessfully to get the governor to come up with a new budget that didn't include his proposed change in income tax collections for the self-employed, expected to bring in $130 million.

University of Utah political science professor Matthew Burbank said the governor appears more willing to take on lawmakers in his own party after his win in November.

Burbank said Herbert had feared sparking a political challenge from within the GOP last session because he had yet to be elected to the remaining two years of former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s term.

Now that's changed. "I think you might see more friction," Burbank said. "He might be a little less concerned about avoiding potential fights."

Herbert's new budget director, Ron Bigelow, downplayed the differences between his new boss and his former colleagues in the Legislature.

"I don't so much see it as a challenge," said Bigelow, who had served for years as the House budget chairman before making the move to the executive branch in December. "It's a different approach."