Dipping into School Trust Lands Funds

The School Trust Lands of Utah in the past decade have become a growing source of education revenue. The lands themselves bring annual payments in the form of dividends that by the State Constitution must go directly to the school districts. The Trust is similar to a savings account; the earnings can be compared to the interest from that account and are what is sent to the school districts. Members of your School Community Council decide how your share of the Trust Lands money is spent for your school. The Legislature cannot control how the earnings are spent nor can they spend down the Trust. It is essential that we preserve the Trust and maintain the local control of the Trust Lands’ earnings.

HB269 creates a commission on Civic and Character Education to lead out on a focus on civic and character education in public schools. Civics is already part of the core curriculum in public schools and there are already many programs of character education in our local schools. However, HB269 requires that this commission and the program they create are paid for with 1% of the Trust Lands dividend funds annually. There may be a constitutional challenge to this bill but regardless of any challenge, I stand opposed to the legislature taking even 1% of the Trust Lands funds that go directly to the schools. In addition, a mandate for a statewide curriculum change should come from the State Office of Education and not be written into state law.

The New Session is Underway

Another legislative session for the Utah State Legislature has begun.

I keep hearing the buzzwords “Structural Deficit Repair”. Of course, we know there have been big budget problems lately. The amount of money coming in has been less than the cost of running the State and since we are required to have a balanced budget, for the last two years some of the shortages have been covered with “one-time money”. That is like paying your grocery bill from your savings account. You can do that for a little while but unless you can get a steady stream of money coming in from somewhere else soon, eventually you run out of savings and you better plan to stop eating!

Legislators have committed to bring the cost of government down to the amount of money that current taxes are bringing in. They don’t want to raise any taxes so hold onto your hats! -- we can expect another round of budget cuts this year.

If we knew how long the effects of the recession would last, we could ration the rainy day fund and other resources. But that is something no one knows.

The cuts that are being proposed may also prolong the recession. Cuts in services leave more and more people relying on public aid. One department meets their budget by cutting positions and that increases the number of people looking for jobs elsewhere. The private sector contractors for the state have fewer orders to fill and so they, like the rest of the private sector, are impacted. They aren't hiring either.

When there is high unemployment, it is a great time to retool with additional skills to make yourself more employable. Enrollment in institutions of higher education are growing all over the state. The problem is, public institutions of high education are facing budget cuts too. To meet their budgets, either the educators and administrators or the students will suffer -- or, as is most likely, both. Fewer workers, more demand for public services, and fewer options for additional job training will undoubtedly extend the recession and its attendant unemployment.

I don't envy the legislators their decisions but I have a bias toward preparing for the future. I am convinced that maintaining opportunities for training, to make workers more self-reliant, is among the most important things we can do.