2021 Legislative Session: Week 2

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2021 Legislative Update: Week 2

The second week of the 2021 Legislative Session has come to an end. Things have begun to move quickly at the Capitol as we do the people's work. This week we passed the base budget, which includes more money for public education than ever before - $6.5 billion for 2022 and 2023! We're also focused on keeping each other safe during the pandemic. The Capitol is now open to the public as well as Committee meetings. However, we continue to provide access to all committee meetings online as well.

Below you will find some helpful links and information about the second week of the 2021 Legislative Session. As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or thoughts on the legislative process, please reach out to me. I appreciate your feedback, and I am grateful you have trusted me with the responsibility to represent you at the legislature.

Thank you,
Representative Rex Shipp
House District 72

Base Budget

This week we passed a base budget that included a $400 million increase in public education funding and gave our state employees a 3% raise! We also passed H.B. 85, which would provide our senior population a social security tax cut. Both houses also passed S.B. 1 Public Education Base Budget Amendments this week. This is the single biggest investment for public education in state history, with nearly $6.5 billion in funding for FY 2022 and FY 2023.

I am honored to be apart of this work and am proud to provide our children, teachers, seniors, and state employees much deserved funding, raises, and tax cuts.

Bill Highlight

This week I am highlighting H.B. 106 Adoption Tax Credit. This bill will enact individual income tax credits for adoption expenses. This bill also:

Enacts a nonrefundable and a refundable individual income tax credit for expenses related to the adoption of a child for which eligibility depends on the individual's income.

Making adoption easier is my primary motivator for this bill. No family should be deterred from adopting because of costs incurred through the process. I am excited to help more parents and children find each other and complete their families. To read more about this bill, click here. To see what other bills I am working on this session, click here.

House of Representative Podcast

Every week for the session's duration, we will hear from a few lawmakers about their priority legislation. In this week's episode, Representative Brad Last talks about the importance of the base budget and why Utah created the base budget in the first place.

Resolution Recognizing Donovan Mitchell

This week, the House passed HR 3, House Resolution Honoring Donovan Mitchell over Shaquille O'neal. Wearing her referee jersey, Rep. Kera Birkeland presented the resolution recognizing Donovan Mitchell for his indomitable spirit and dedication on and off the court, stating, “The House of Representatives of the State of Utah recognizes the exemplary service of Donovan Mitchell Jr. to the Utah Jazz and the people of the great state of Utah.” Although Shaq may think otherwise, we think we are pretty lucky to have Spida represent Utah. Sporting his #45 jersey from the dais, Speaker Wilson said, “We’ll take Spida over Shaq any day! [Donovan Mitchell]’s greatness extends far beyond the court. He’s an example of service, dedication, and selflessness, and Utah is lucky to have him.”