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SALT LAKE CITY -- Lawmakers are gearing up for the start of the legislative session. 2012 is the first year of the past several in which lawmakers will have more money to work with than the previous year. But it's still not enough to create any new programs.
The state is expected to have $128 million in one-time use money which will be used strictly for one-time expenses. But its revenue projections were better than first expected.
Sen. Lyle Hillyard said, "We're going to be up $280 million in collections. So, that's increased ongoing revenue that we can use in our budget as we look at the needs of the state."
$280 million ongoing programs
But a lot of that money is already earmarked for certain programs. Sen. Hillyard is the Executive Appropriations Committee Chair. He says Medicaid is the biggest expense.
"The cost there is at about $115 million for just Medicaid. That's because more people are eligible because they expanded the eligibility limits," he explained.
Hillyard says paying for growth in higher education is also a high priority. He says lawmakers haven't really done that in recent years.
"That costs us between $40 million and $60 million, depending on which factors you measure," he said.
He says lawmakers were able to avoid using one-time money for ongoing projects, unlike in years past.
"We took $52 million out of the $280 million and we plugged that in. So, we now have no ‘one-time' money funding ongoing programs," Hillyard said.
Updated funding figures are expected to come out in February.
