Update on Utah Legislative Session

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The 2019 Utah legislative session is half over and much remains to be done, including a heavily discussed major overhaul of our state sales tax system and several tax credit proposals.

For the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, tax bills, or any economic policy, must reflect our teaching to be considered just. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued “A Catholic Framework for Economic Justice” in 1996 that still helps guide our decisions on which bills to support and oppose each session. These principles reflect our Gospel values and include the basic belief that the economy exists for the person; and all economic choices must be judged by their impact on the life and dignity of the human person, and support for the family and community. Ultimately, we judge any economy on how the poor and vulnerable are faring. If people in poverty are unable to secure stable housing, food, clothing, education, health care and a safe environment, changes are needed.

Applying our teaching to Utah tax proposals, the diocese is closely monitoring all proposals that would tax water or food, raise the costs of transportation for low-income individuals or hinder access to legal counsel or health care for people experiencing poverty. Taxes on water use are particularly difficult because Utah uses far too much water for non-culinary purposes. We support efforts to encourage conservation of water and landscaping choices that reflect our desert climate, but do not want to harm a poor person’s ability to pay for culinary water.  While legislators have mentioned water-related taxes, no concrete proposal was publicly available at the time of this writing.

We also continue to support an Earned Income Tax Credit. Two legislators are offering bills to create a limited EITC in the state. The diocese continues to support HB 103 Utah Intergenerational Poverty Work and Self Sufficiency Tax Credit that would provide a refundable tax credit to taxpayers who are experiencing intergenerational poverty, as evidenced by their use of public assistance over a specified period of time and from childhood to adulthood.  

The diocese is less supportive of the second bill, HB 379 Intergenerational Poverty Solution. This bill also creates an EITC for families experiencing intergenerational poverty, but proceeds to mandate how the families use the credit by requiring that the credit be deposited into a 529 educational savings account. While the bill recognizes the importance of education for ending poverty, it undermines the dignity of the human being by eliminating their free agency to determine their own financial priorities. However, we encourage legislators to merge the bills so that recipients would have the option to invest in a 529 or use their refund for other needs.

Affordable housing efforts are also a big-ticket item this session. The diocese supports sound efforts to improve access to affordable housing for low-income Utahns, including SB 34 Affordable Housing Modifications and HB 386 Economic Development and Affordable Homes Amendments. Both of these bills provide incentives and money to build more affordable housing across the state. HB 386 also encourages innovation in alternative housing models, such as tiny homes, community land trusts and single-room occupancy units.

On a completely different note, the Diocese enthusiastically supports HB 377 Capitol Hill Water Usage Amendments, which would help our state Capitol move from being one of the biggest water users in the state to a prime example of “slowing the flow.” The bill would require the Capitol’s facilities department to reduce water usage across the complex by 25 percent, conduct a comprehensive study of water usage at the Capitol, and implement a water usage plan. This bill is an excellent opportunity for state government to lead by example.

To see where these bills, and others the diocese is tracking, are at in the process, visit https://www.dioslc.org/images/pdfs-doc/2019_tracking_sheet.pdf

 Jean Hill is director of the Diocese of Salt Lake City Office of Life, Justice and Peace.