Group speaks out on Legacy study

Tired of what they call the Legislature's roads-above-all approach to budgeting, some low-income Utahns are speaking out about a recent decision to spend $20 million studying whether the Legacy Parkway should be extended north.

Lawmakers continue to have a pave-over-the-poor approach, said Rudolfo Roca, speaking for the Anti-Hunger Action Committee, which wrote letters to both Salt Lake daily newspapers chastising legislative leaders for continuing the study despite imposing cutbacks of nearly the same amount in the departments of human services and health.

"How can Greg Curtis, the speaker of the House, and John Valentine, the president of the Senate, look at themselves in the mirror when under their leadership health-care programs are being cut so that the government can study a problem in the distant future," Roca said. "Shouldn't those kinds of studies be put off until years when we can afford to pay for them without cutting vitally important services."

Cutting $20 million from departments that are responsible for providing help to the state's most vulnerable residents — the poor, the disabled, the elderly and abused children — for a road that might be needed in 10 or 20 years seems off the mark, said Bill Tibbitts, anti-hunger project coordinator for the Crossroads Urban Center advocacy group.

"I don't think it reflects the values of the people of Utah," Tibbits said. "If the leadership of the Utah Legislature had to balance the budget for their personal families they wouldn't cut back on health care so they can plan for a trip to Hawaii in 20 years. Unfortunately, that is pretty much what they did with our taxpayer dollars last month."

The matter is much more a product of coincidence and the budgeting process than a lack of compassion, lawmakers, government policy researchers and Utah Department of Transportation managers said Wednesday.

Plus, health and human services were hardly alone when cuts were approved during a Sept. 25 special session called to address revenue shortfalls for the budget lawmakers approved in March.

The Legislature cut $35.5 million from UDOT's $90 million Critical Highway Needs Fund, and UDOT will not receive an additional $5.5 million for highway-related sidewalk construction and two environmental impact studies will be delayed.

Vic Saunders, UDOT spokesman for northern Utah, said the department ultimately doesn't have much control over its budget.