SALT LAKE CITY – Utah state legislature released a $ 2.2 billion infrastructure spending bill, spending taxpayers’ money on improving roads, speeding up trains, and improving state parks .
“It would be a record amount of infrastructure spending in the state,” said Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, who sponsors House 433 Bill.
The bill, released late Wednesday, would provide money for double-track front-runner trains from Provo to Ogden, as well as funding a fast bus system in the middle of the Salt Lake Valley. This is because the I-15 is reaching capacity as the state continues to experience population growth, Rep. Schultz said.
“Our roads can’t handle the extra capacity. UDOT will tell you we can’t make I-15 wide enough,” he said.
It would also plan growth at Point of the Mountain when the Utah State Prison moves, and even fund a bridge project in Brigham City.
Legislature is proposing an increase in funding for the Utah Transit Authority to fund the double pursuit of Frontrunner, with the goal of trains running every 15 minutes.
“It takes 15 to 20 minutes to drive from Provo to Salt Lake and Ogden to Salt Lake,” said Rep. Schultz.
There is money to expand rail traffic south of Provo. Approximately $ 621 million would be spent on road projects across the state, and additional funding would be allocated to improvements in Utah state parks (including money for a second access to Arches National Park in Moab through the newly created Utahraptor State Park).
But $ 2.2 billion is roughly 10% of the state budget, and the House and Senate disagree on whether it makes sense to spend that much. Of this, around $ 1.4 billion is accounted for by bonds where money is borrowed. The rest is one-time money that the state has at its disposal.
“I think it’s a very fiscally conservative approach like the one we’ve been promoting for four or five years,” said Rep. Schultz. “We’ll have less debt next year.”
But Senate GOP leaders were concerned about so much credit at a time when economic uncertainties still exist with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m still sick. My stomach is still bad about our situation,” said Evan Vickers, Senate majority leader in R-Cedar City. “I still think there’s a cliff out there and I’m worried about it.”
Governor Spencer Cox’s office was negotiating the bill. The governor told FOX 13 Thursday that he supported the infrastructure bill but had some reservations about borrowing.
“These projects have to go,” he said of the infrastructure. “I don’t know that $ 1.4 billion is the right number for that.”
There are seven days left in the 2021 legislative period and the bill is accelerated. It has a hearing on Friday morning and is also expected to move forward with ongoing negotiations on how much to spend.
Another bogus bill that would have stalled would have asked Utah to get federal funds to expand the nationwide passenger rail network. The resolution of the Senate minority whip Luz Escamilla died Thursday morning in a committee with a narrow 3-2 vote. She said she would keep trying to move it forward.
“I’ll bring it back. I think it’s important,” she said. “I live on the Wasatch Front, which is where the best public transportation is. This track is about connecting everyone, and I think rural Utah will benefit from it.”
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