Welcome to The Senate Site

By Lyle Hillyard
Utah State Senator, District 25

Last Friday, I came home from my brisk 5 mile walk and sat down to a great breakfast of Cheerios and raspberries from my garden. I looked at the two most important parts of the Herald Journal and the Deseret News (obituaries and letters to the editor) and did not see my name so I knew it would be a good day. I scanned the rest of the paper and, to my surprise, saw that I was mentioned in an editorial piece by my friend Bob Bernick of the Deseret News. I was tempted to cut it out and send it to my grandchildren and see if they were impressed with me being called “well-respected” (I knew my children would not be) but then I realized that they work through a thing called the Internet so they would not even know what a newspaper was. Because of some of the things stated in the piece and the whole idea of a blog being used to "report news", I thought I should offer a response.

First, I am glad what I did was only a "minor issue." Actually the TC 23 is not issued by legislative staff or even us “bosses”. It is issued by the State Tax Commission which I believe is official state action. What I did was give my comment on what it showed and how I believe it should be handled in my capacity as Senate Chair of Executive Appropriations, and after talking with our non-partisan fiscal analyst staff. When I heard that the collections were down for one month only, I visited with the Governor’s staff to get their read on the event. They agreed with our staff that the revenue collections for the year are still within the ranges and until we know more any discussions would be pure speculation. More numbers will be available in August.

You may remember that the same cash flow for the end of April showed clearly that we would end the fiscal year with a surplus. There were also concerns that new withholding tables and new collection methods may have caused the downturn in collections - it may have had little to do with a serious downturn in the economy. We all agreed that the revenues had been so allocated that we would have enough surpluses to cover to the end of June so there was no need to panic and stop spending on the budgets approved during the session. I was also concerned that the wrong signal – panic, panic, we are really losing money and hence going into a recession even in Utah – could become self-fulfilling prophecy.

Second, the memo given to the members of Executive Appropriations included the full House and Senate Democratic Leadership. Any one of them could have asked for the item to be discussed during the meeting under other business or talked about the memo. The legislative staff works for them as well (staff does a very good job about not taking sides).

Third, our State budget has a lot of input from the Democrats. I have found them just as interested in it being balanced and that we have surpluses to spend with a well managed State. If you checked the record, you will find most of them vote for the budget bill. I try to take a lot of time during the session and in the interim meeting on that side of the aisle, answering questions and accepting their suggestions. At least from my perspective and from what I have seen over the years, I think we work quite well together in creating a state budget.

As I drove home the day after we had announced my reaction to the TR 23, I was concerned when I heard on the radio that the budget chairman had announced that we could be $100.0 M down in revenue that no mention was made that we also could be up $70.0 M. I was pleased that we do do have a credible means to share information. We don’t have to sit back and listen to what news reporters choose to highlight or mention. We even encourage Democratic Senators to make their comments on this Senate Blog Site. Bob knows my cell phone and is welcome to call me any time he wishes to discuss reports or the lack of reports but even this old dog can learn new tricks.

If I can use the Internet to post information on a blog site anyone can and the reliance people have had to place on the printed or broadcast news can now be balanced from other sources. They can then choose what to believe and accept. As new revenue and budget numbers become available, I expect to report them on the Senate Site along with my recommendation on what to do with this information.

4 Comments:

 The Priests of the Temple of Syrinx said...

You need to insist that earmarked sales taxes be reported as a line item on the TC-23 or include it in state general sales taxes. The FY2009 amount is $335 million according to GOPB. This is not chump change.

6/24/2008 7:33 PM  

 Gus said...

You grow Cheerios in your garden?

6/24/2008 7:54 PM  

 Lyle Hillyard said...

Gus,

I have tried to grow Cheerios, but I haven't been able to decide if it is best to plant 3 or 6 of those little things per hill. Maybe you could suggest the proper number?

6/25/2008 9:20 AM  

 Lyle Hillyard said...

Priests,

I like your suggestion and I will request that, as well as other breakdowns that would be helpful, from the State Tax Commission.

6/25/2008 9:26 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home

Twitter Updates

Follow us on the Senate Twitter Site