— State tax revenue has been growing with Utah’s robust economy to the point where there will be $1.3 billion in new money coming in. That is an impressive sum, and the governor can rightly credit careful and conservative management.
— Kindergarten through 12th grade will continue to see the bulk of the largesse, as it has in recent years. Four years ago Herbert pledged to raise education spending by a billion dollars in five years, and with this budget he would make it a year early.
— The budget does not allocate $200 million of that new money — on the hope that legislators will instead decide to give taxpayers a break.