Joint Rules Resolution - Legislative Expenditures Amendments

10
JR3-2-402
JR5-1-102
JR5-6-101
0
Joint Rules Resolution - Legislative Expenditures Amendments
2026 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Ryan D. Wilcox
Senate Sponsor:
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This joint rules resolution addresses legislative expenditures.
Highlighted Provisions:
This resolution:
defines "legislative aide";
requires the Executive Appropriations Committee to set aside an allocation each fiscal
year for the Senate and House of Representatives for legislator administrative and staff
expenses;
authorizes the Executive Appropriations Committee to set aside an allocation each fiscal
year for expenditures related to administering a legislative committee;
establishes requirements for the disbursement, use, and tracking of allocations for
legislator administrative and staff expenses; and
makes technical and conforming changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
This resolution provides a special effective date.
Legislative Rules Affected:
AMENDS:
JR3-2-402
JR5-1-102
ENACTS:
JR5-6-101
Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1.
JR3-2-402
is amended to read:
JR3-2-402
. Executive appropriations -- Duties -- Base budgets.
(1)
(a)
The Executive Appropriations Committee shall meet no later than the third
Wednesday in December to:
(i)
direct staff as to what revenue estimate to use in preparing budget
recommendations, to include a forecast for federal fund receipts;
(ii)
consider treating above-trend revenue growth as one-time revenue for major tax
types and for federal funds;
(iii)
hear a report on the historical, current, and anticipated status of the following:
(A)
debt;
(B)
long term liabilities;
(C)
contingent liabilities;
(D)
General Fund borrowing;
(E)
reserves;
(F)
fund balances;
(G)
nonlapsing appropriation balances;
(H)
cash funded infrastructure investment; and
(I)
changes in federal funds paid to the state;
(iv)
hear a report on:
(A)
the next fiscal year base budget appropriation for Medicaid accountable care
organizations according to Utah Code Section
26B-3-203
;
(B)
an explanation of program funding needs;
(C)
estimates of overall medical inflation in the state; and
(D)
mandated program changes and their estimated cost impact on Medicaid
accountable care organizations;
(v)
decide whether to set aside special allocations for the end of the session, including
allocations:
(A)
to address any anticipated reduction in the amount of federal funds paid to the
state; and
(B)
of one-time revenue to pay down debt and other liabilities;
(vi)
(A)
hear a report on construction inflation and the ongoing operation and
maintenance costs of any capital development project requested by an
institution under Utah Code Section
53B-2a-117
53H-9-504
or
53B-22-204
53H-9-605
; and
(B)
in response to the report described in Subsection
(1)(a)(vi)(A)
, decide whether
to adjust the next fiscal year base budget or set aside special allocations for the
end of the session;
(vii)
decide whether to set aside special allocations for legislation that will reduce
taxes, including legislation that will reduce one or more tax rates;
(viii)
subject to Subsection
(1)(c)
, unless waived by majority vote, if the amortization
rate as defined in Utah Code Section
49-11-102
for the new fiscal year is less than
the amortization rate for the preceding fiscal year, set aside an amount equal to the
value of the reduction in the amortization rate;
(ix)
unless waived by majority vote, set aside an allocation to the Senate and House
of Representatives for legislator administrative and staff expenses described in
JR5-6-101
;
(x)
decide whether to set aside special allocations to the Senate and House of
Representatives for expenditures related to administering a legislative committee
defined in
JR7-1-101
, including travel and training expenses;
(ix)
(xi)
approve the appropriate amount for each subcommittee to use in preparing
its budget;
(x)
(xii)
set a budget figure; and
(xi)
(xiii)
adopt a base budget in accordance with Subsection
(1)(b)
and direct the
legislative fiscal analyst to prepare one or more appropriations acts appropriating
one or more base budgets for the next fiscal year.
(b)
In a base budget adopted under Subsection
(1)(a)
, the Executive Appropriations
Committee shall set appropriations from the General Fund, the Income Tax Fund,
and the Uniform School Fund as follows:
(i)
if the next fiscal year ongoing revenue estimates set under Subsection
(1)(a)(i)
are
equal to or greater than the current fiscal year ongoing appropriations, the new
fiscal year base budget is not changed;
(ii)
if the next fiscal year ongoing revenue estimates set under Subsection
(1)(a)(i)
are
less than the current fiscal year ongoing appropriations, the new fiscal year base
budget is reduced by the same percentage that projected next fiscal year ongoing
revenue estimates are lower than the total of current fiscal year ongoing
appropriations;
(iii)
in making a reduction under Subsection
(1)(b)(ii)
, appropriated debt service shall
not be reduced, and other ongoing appropriations shall be reduced, in an amount
sufficient to make the total ongoing appropriations, including the unadjusted debt
service, equal to the percentage calculated under Subsection
(1)(b)(ii)
; and
(iv)
the new fiscal year base budget shall include an appropriation to the Department
of Health and Human Services for Medicaid accountable care organizations in the
amount required by Utah Code Section
26B-3-203
.
(c)
(i)
The Executive Appropriations Committee shall:
(A)
comply with the set aside requirement described in Subsection
(1)(a)(vii)
(1)(a)(viii)
using money from the General Fund, Income Tax Fund, and
Uniform School Fund;
(B)
accumulate money set aside under Subsection
(1)(a)(vii)
(1)(a)(viii)
across
fiscal years; and
(C)
when the total amount set aside under Subsection
(1)(a)(vii)
(1)(a)(viii)
,
including any amount to be set aside in the new fiscal year, equals or exceeds
the cost of a 0.50% increase in benefited state employee salaries for the new
fiscal year, include in the base budget an increase in benefited state employee
salaries equal to the total set aside amount.
(ii)
The Executive Appropriations Committee may waive or modify a requirement
described in Subsection
(1)(c)(i)
by majority vote.
(d)
The chairs of each joint appropriations subcommittee are invited to attend the
meeting described in this Subsection
(1)
.
(2)
All proposed budget items shall be submitted to one of the subcommittees named in
JR3-2-302
for consideration and recommendation.
(3)
(a)
After receiving and reviewing subcommittee reports, the Executive
Appropriations Committee may refer the report back to a joint appropriations
subcommittee with any guidelines the Executive Appropriations Committee
considers necessary to assist the subcommittee in producing a balanced budget.
(b)
The subcommittee shall meet to review the new guidelines and report the
adjustments to the chairs of the Executive Appropriations Committee as soon as
possible.
(4)
(a)
After receiving the reports, the Executive Appropriations Committee chairs will
report them to the Executive Appropriations Committee.
(b)
The Executive Appropriations Committee shall:
(i)
make any further adjustments necessary to balance the budget; and
(ii)
complete all decisions necessary to draft the final appropriations bills no later
than the last Friday before the 45th day of the annual general session.
(5)
No later than December 1 of each calendar year, the Executive Appropriations
Committee shall:
(a)
review the budget for the Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst, the Office of
Legislative Research and General Counsel, the Office of the Legislative Auditor
General, and the Office of Legislative Services; and
(b)
certify the Legislature's budget to the governor in accordance with Utah Code
Section
63J-1-201
.
Section 2.
JR5-1-102
is amended to read:
JR5-1-102
. Legislative Expenses Oversight Committee.
(1)
The presiding officer and the majority leader and minority leader of each chamber are
the Legislative Expenses Oversight Committee for that chamber.
(2)
Each committee shall:
(a)
establish procedures to implement the rules on legislative expenses, including
establishing systems and procedures for
:
(i)

the reimbursement of legislative expenses;
and
(ii)
tracking the allocations for administrative and staff expenses under Chapter 6,
Administrative and Staff Expenses;
(b)
ensure that procedures are established for the purpose of avoiding duplicate or
improper payments or reimbursements; and
(c)
meet at least annually, or at the request of a majority of the committee, to review
legislative expenses and travel budgets.
(3)
Each committee may, for a calendar year, authorize up to 10 authorized legislative
training days for each legislator.
(4)
The presiding officer may authorize temporary emergency legislative expenses.
Section 3.
JR5-6-101
is enacted to read:
6. Administrative and Staff Expenses
JR5-6-101
. Annual budget for administrative and staff expenses.
(1)
As used in this rule, "legislative aide" means an individual who:
(a)
is a non-benefited employee of the Senate or the House of Representatives, as
applicable;
(b)
serves at the pleasure of the legislator who hires the aide under this rule;
(c)
is paid for up to 1,040 hours per fiscal year; and
(d)
is not a member of the legislator's immediate family.
(2)
The Senate and House of Representatives shall ensure that the amount allocated by the
Executive Appropriations Committee under
JR3-2-402(1)(a)(ix)
for legislator
administrative and staff expenses is allocated and administered in accordance with this
rule.
(3)
The Senate shall, each fiscal year, allocate from the amount described in Subsection
(2)
:
(a)
an equal amount to each senator; and
(b)
a separate, additional amount to:
(i)
the president;
(ii)
the Senate majority leader; and
(iii)
the Senate minority leader.
(4)
The House of Representatives shall, each fiscal year, allocate from the amount
described in Subsection
(2)
:
(a)
an equal amount to each representative; and
(b)
a separate, additional amount to:
(i)
the speaker of the House;
(ii)
the House majority leader; and
(iii)
the House minority leader.
(5)
A legislator may only use the legislator's allocation under Subsection
(3)
or
(4)
to:
(a)
hire one or more legislative aides; or
(b)
pay for administrative and operational expenses related to the legislator's official
legislative business.
(6)
Any unused amount of a legislator's allocation under this rule lapses and may not be
carried into the next fiscal year.
(7)
If the Senate and House of Representatives receive an allocation from the Legislature
under
JR3-2-402(1)(a)(x)
, the Legislative Management Committee shall decide:
(a)
which legislative committees receive all or a portion of the allocation; and
(b)
the amount of each disbursement.
Section 4.
Effective Date.
This resolution takes effect May 6, 2026.
1-27-26 5:26 PM