WEST HAVEN, Utah — In a neighborhood lined with new homes and some still being built, Governor Spencer Cox outlined his budget priorities for the upcoming year.
The biggest initiative he is pushing in the $29.5 billion budget proposal to the legislature? An ambitious goal of building 35,000 new starter homes by 2028.
"This is about our kids and grandkids being able to live here. It’s not about people from other states moving here. People aren’t selling their big houses in California and moving to starter homes in Utah," he said. "This is about our kids. This is about our future, this is about the American dream and the Utah dream and keeping the very best of Utah and making sure it is available to the next generation."
The governor is proposing to spend $150 million to boost initiatives for first time homebuyers, build out infrastructure to make it easier to construct those homes and even fund innovations in modular home design. He announced on Tuesday that former Utah lawmaker Steve Waldrip, who ran legislation on affordable housing initiatives, would join his administration to oversee some of the efforts.
In his budget rollout, Gov. Cox acknowledged that for many Utahns a home just isn't within reach. The average starter home now is over $500,000. But the governor believes that if they increase supply of housing, costs will come down. Some of the hurdles in communities include expensive infrastructure.
Cameron Diehl, the executive director of the Utah League of Cities & Towns, which represents municipalities on Utah's Capitol Hill, said they were engaging with the governor on the proposal and looking at the policy.
"The governor has said to all stakeholders that he wants everyone to stretch in order to increase the number of starter homes in the state of Utah," Diehl told FOX 13 News. "Our members have told us time and time again they’re supportive of increased opportunities."
Gov. Cox acknowledged he may face pushback from the proposal which would certainly benefit homebuilders (of which there are many in the Utah legislature). But he defended it as good for Utah families to be able to get into starter homes. Jed Nilson, who owns Nilson Homes, said he believed the governor's idea was the right one.
"I believe that will fix the housing crisis in our state. The challenge when we’ve only been building apartments and huge mansions for the last 15 years, it’s left a huge gap of homes," Nilson told FOX 13 News. "We all know somebody that lives in somebody’s basement that they wish they could afford a home."
The governor's $29.5 billion budget proposal also included some other major spending requests. It should be noted that while a governor can propose a budget, it is the Utah State Legislature that ultimately passes on. Here's what else the governor's office wants to see funded:
Public education
"It always tops the list of priorities for Utahns and it’s certainly one of the key priorities in our administration as well," said Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson.
The Cox-Henderson administration is proposing $854 million in public education funding increases. That includes $12 million for a student teacher stipend; $34 million for rural school needs; $111 million for teachers and a 5% increase in Weighted Pupil Unit, the classroom size formula that can also be used for teacher salaries.
The state's largest teachers union, the Utah Education Association, said it appreciated some of his funding requests.
"We applaud his support for current and future educators, as well as $34 million in one-time and ongoing funding for rural public schools. This is a significant step forward in addressing key priorities identified by the UEA," union president Renée Pinkney said in a statement. "However, we cannot overlook the significant shortfall in the proposed five percent increase in the Weighted Pupil Unit (WPU). The proposal falls far below the UEA's requested 12 percent, which will leave critical student needs unaddressed."
Taxes
Gov. Cox said he would propose no new tax cuts this year (even though some in the legislature are eyeballing another one). Instead, he wanted to see if voters approved a proposed constitutional amendment to rework the income tax, which is specifically earmarked for public education and some social services. If lawmakers are allowed to dip into the income tax to fund other needs, they would remove the state portion of the sales tax on food.
But so far the UEA has not jumped on board to support it and told FOX 13 News it has taken a "no position" stance. The union could make odds of passage for the amendment difficult should that stance change.
But Gov. Cox did propose expanding the child tax credit to cover kids up to age 5 (it was age 3 previously).
Homelessness
On Monday, Gov. Cox announced a plan to seek $128 million to expand emergency shelter services to deal with homelessness. He would also push for tweaks to licensure to get more people into behavioral health services careers and spending on affordable housing initiatives.
Transportation
The governor is proposing to dip into a transportation fund, taking 1% of that money and giving it to public transit. While Gov. Cox himself has been a proponent of zero fare transit, the Utah State Legislature has resisted it. The governor is not proposing it again in his budget, but certainly gave municipalities his blessing to explore the concept. He did note with the Olympics coming in 2034, there could be the potential for mass transit investment.
Great Salt Lake and water
The governor didn't mention it in his budget presentation, but water remains an issue and he has allocated money to water conservation and saving the Great Salt Lake. Speaking to FOX 13 News on Tuesday, Gov. Cox said the legislature has spent over $1 billion in the past two years on water conservation and he wants to see that money get used.
"We have over $29 million directly to the Great Salt Lake in the budget right now. We think with the other money that hasn’t been spent yet on top of this, that’s the right number," he said. "We’ll do more in years to come."
State employee compensation
To address problems with staffing shortages at the Utah State Prison that led to security problems, Gov. Cox is proposing $19 million in funding for recruitment of more Corrections officers.
"I'm pleased to report we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of people who are applying for Corrections positions," he said Tuesday.
He is also proposing $163 million for state employee compensation and $75 million specifically for higher education employees.
Odds and ends
Some of the budget items will impact communities across Utah and others FOX 13 News found simply interesting. For example, the governor is proposing $20 million for a new San Juan Co. hospital. He is also proposing $20 million for a Central Utah "Agri-Park" that facilitates Utah-grown food production and distribution. He also proposed $1 million to expand local food processing in Utah.
There is $1.9 million for "Highways in the Sky," which appears to be anticipating delivery drones and $520,000 earmarked for artificial intelligence "safeguards."
Gov. Cox and the legislature have gone after social media companies and the state is actively suing some platforms for alleged harms to the mental health of youth. In his budget, Gov. Cox proposed $800,000 for "social media regulation enforcement."
The governor also proposed $3 million for an initiative to get students to do more community service, something promoted by Lt. Gov. Henderson.
Read the governor's proposed budget here:
