Sen. Hillyard confident in positive budget numbers

FILE PHOTO: The silhouette of Utah State Capitol is shown against the blue sky Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

After one week into the 2013 session of the Utah legislature, state lawmakers say it looks like a sizable share of the budget this year will go to Medicaid reform.

State Senator Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, is chairman of the Executive Appropriations Committee and during a Utah Senate mid-day media briefing on Thursday, Jan. 31 said the final budget figures will not be released until February 19.

“One of the things that we are going to have to come to a basic decision is what, if any, salary increase we’ll have for state employees and teachers,” Sen. Hillyard said. “That’s always a very important concern for us as we look at these figures.”

Sen. Hillyard said about half of all the state’s budget goes to education. He said much of the other half may end up going to entitlement programs. Sen. Hillyard is confident that when those budget numbers are released in two weeks there will be a positive cash flow.

He also said that every committee is going to present to him and Senator Jerry Stevenson, R-District 21, to determine budget allocations. He said he would prefer to invest the money in programs and people.

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