USHE presidents sign letter of support for HB 260: “It’s time to expand the programs already proven to work to all Utahns.”

On February 11, 2019, Utah’s public college and university presidents and the Commissioner of Higher Education signed a letter of support for Representative Derrin Owens’ HB 260 Access Utah Promise Scholarship. This legislation would create a last-dollar scholarship patterned after SLCC Promise and Dream Weber, that would pay for tuition and fees for the first two years […]

2019 Legislative Update – Week 3

Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee The Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee (HEAS) wrapped up its work capping a busy week filled with requests for appropriations, presentations from presidents of the seven remaining USHE institutions, and ultimately a prioritization of higher education-related budget requests including several of the Board of Regents’ priorities. On Monday, the Subcommittee reviewed the […]

2019 Legislative Update – Week 2

Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee As noted last week, the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee (HEAS) was scheduled this past week to receive several reports, including the USHE Budget Priorities as adopted by the Board of Regents. Ruth Watkins, President at University of Utah, gave the first of the institution-based presentations to the Subcommittee. She touched on […]

2019 Legislative Update – Week 1

The 45-day 2019 Legislative Session commenced on Monday, January 28, 2019. With over 1,100 legislative bills filed, several are expected to impact Utah’s public colleges and universities. The early weeks of the session focus on the budget and capital development priorities; however, several pieces of legislation are up for consideration. 2019-20 Budget According to the […]

Utah’s higher ed leaders support Opinion Question 1

On September 19, 2018, the Commissioner of Higher Education, Dave Buhler, and presidents of the colleges and universities in the Utah System of Higher Education signed a letter expressing support for Opinion Question 1, which will be on the ballot this fall. The letter reads as follows: “As the leaders of Utah’s public colleges and […]

2018 Legislative update – Week 7 (Final Update)

The 2018 Legislative Session ended yesterday, March 8. The following is a brief summary of budget increases and key legislation. A more complete overview of the legislative session will be presented at the upcoming Board of Regents meeting on Friday, March 30, 2018. Budget Update Legislative leaders adopted priorities for the 2018-19 budget during the […]

2018 Legislative Update – Week 6

Budget Update Legislative leaders are in the final stages of compiling the 2018-19 budget in the final days of the legislative session. The Executive Appropriations Committee is scheduled to meet on Monday to approve the major components of the new budget appropriations for consideration by the full legislature. The latest quarterly revenue estimates indicate there […]

2018 Legislative Update – Week 5

Revised Budget Revenues Announced The Legislature has $209 million more than expected to spend in budgets as it prepares the 2018-19 budget. This came from projections released by legislative analysts, the Governor’s Office and the Utah Tax Commission last week based on new quarterly revenue estimates: Additional details on the revenues are available here Legislation […]

2018 Legislative Update – Week 4

Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee The Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee Chairs presented the subcommittee’s priorities to the Executive Appropriations Committee on Thursday. Final 2018-19 budget revenue projections are expected to be announced in the coming week. From this, additional budget action will be taken by Executive Appropriations Committee in the final weeks of the legislative session. […]

2018 Legislative Update – Week 2

The Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee met twice this week, hearing from five of the eight USHE presidents. Each president advocated the Board of Regents’ unified budget priorities, and highlighted specific student successes and efficiencies in the past year. The subcommittee, as directed by the Executive Appropriations Committee, advanced three major adjustments to reduce the base […]