2023 Session Summary — MELISSA BALLARD

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Checking In At The Legislature: 2023 Legislative Session Summary

Thank you for Letting Me Serve You!

Over the last seven weeks, my colleagues and I have passed legislation that will greatly benefit every member of our district. I am deeply honored for the privilege of representing each of you. You'll be interested to know that we passed more than 500 bills, each of which will make a meaningful difference in the life of all Utahns. To see a highlighted summary of key legislation and funded items, click here.

Click here to watch a video on how these bills will affect you.

Video – How do these bills impact Utah families?

Thanks for having confidence in me as your legislator. I'll keep working hard for us!

-Melissa

Picture with my husband Craig on the last night of the session and with my daughter, Mary Katharine, on the day we voted to add a new flag to our state

Helpful Links

You can listen to the week 7 podcast about education funding here.
Click here to see all the bills passed in the 2023 legislative session

IN THIS ISSUE

The Utah Way Together
$29 Billion State Budget
Legislation to Secure our Elections
Womens History Month
Staff and Visitors to the Capitol

The Utah Way Together

At the start of this legislative session, we set out to pass significant legislation that would safeguard our natural resources, keep Utah affordable, and invest in our future. I am proud to say we accomplished all three of these goals. Click here for 11 pages of the legislative summary.

Here’s a sample of key legislation we passed:

$29 Billion State Budget 

Crafting the state budget each year is one of the most important constitutional responsibilities given to the Legislature. The finalized state budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 appropriates a total of $29 billion towards essential state needs, including investments in education, social services, water, and transportation. A few highlights include the following:

Historic 20% increase to education, including a guaranteed $92 mil a year

$213 million – Teacher pay raises
$236 million – 6% WPU increase
$92 million – Permanent school fund
$64 million – Teacher preparation/collaboration time
$42.5 million – Optional education opportunities
$15 million – Students experiencing homelessness

Largest tax cut in state history – a total of more than $850 mil of tax cuts in the last 4 yrs

$607.9 million (H.B. 54) – Income Tax and Sales Tax on Food
$9.6 million (H.B. 170) – Child Care Tax Credit
$146 million (H.B. 293) – Property tax thaw
$51 million (H.B. 364) – Low-Income Housing Tax Credit
$32.7 million (H.B. 301) – Gas tax
$2.6 million (H.B. 130) – Adoption Tax Credit

$500 million invested in water resources:

$200 million – Agriculture optimization
$50 million – Water reuse reservoir & desalination
$30 million – Water infrastructure projects
$15 million – Secondary water meters
$12.5 million – Great Salt Lake

Additional funding for transportation and homelessness:

Over $2 billion invested in transportation, including $45 million one-time and $45 million ongoing in active transportation for trails and other outdoor recreation infrastructure
Allocated more than $200 million for housing and homelessness plus $51 million in a low-income housing tax credit

Legislation to Secure our Elections

Many of you have asked for assurances that our elections in Utah are secure. We have had mail-in ballots for more than 15 years. Recently there was an extensive audit of our election process through many of our counties. This audit resulted in two bills this legislative session. HB269 2nd Sub: Election Audit Requirements requires details in a biannual audit of elections. If you would like to learn more about this bill, you can click here. The other bill is HB448 3rd Sub: Election Changes, which amends provisions of the Election Code and the lieutenant governor’s authority over elections. To learn more about this bill, click here.

Women’s History Month

March is women’s history month. I am blessed to work with many wonderful female colleagues in the legislature and admire each of their examples. We also had the privilege to have Governor Cox speak at a press conference about getting period products to all state buildings after The Policy Project fought to get free period products in every school in Utah through the help of Speaker Wilson.

Photo of the House women legislators

Photo of the Period Project organizers and supporters

Staff and Visitors to the Capitol from House District 20

NSL Leann Hyer and a fellow teacher Lenina Wimmer at Farmington High School

NSL Chelsea Robarge and lobbyist Carrie Butler

Seargeant-at-Arms (Green Coats) and House Pages all from House District 20. We sure appreciate all that they do to ensure our session runs smoothly! It’s definitely a team effort.

Pages in red: Deanne Parry, KeAnn Haws, Kay Whitehead, Michelle Wise, Louise Day, Sonia Noall