Lawmakers worried about Utah's reliance on federal money have unveiled an online calculator that shows how the state would be hit by various federal budget disasters.
The Federal Funds Risk Model was released Sept. 24 by Utah's Federal Funds Commission, which was formed in 2013 to study the state's reliance on federal money in the wake of broad federal spending cuts.
The calculator was created as a way to assess events leading to decreasing federal dollars finding their way to Utah, for example a budget crisis that shuts down the federal government, and how the state might continue to fund necessary programs, like education and healthcare.
Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan likens preemptive planning for a possible federal government shutdown to preparing Utah to deal with a natural disaster.
“It’s very similar with a financial earthquake. We want to make sure we’ve got our operational processes in place,” Ivory says. “We understand where the federal funds flow, and how they flow. Right now we don’t have that detail of information that we can respond, rather than react in a crisis.”
Utah receives $3.8 billion in federal funds, accounting for 26 percent of the state’s annual operating budget, and as leaders in Congress are working to avoid a possible shutdown next week because of a budget battle, Ivory says the calculator will help us see how Utah will have to respond in the wake of another shutdown.
“You could see what would it take to offset that particular risk, and what effort would be required of Utahns to deal with a risk of a reduction in funding from the federal government because of that dependence we have built up,” Ivory says.
The current congressional standoff is reminiscent of a similar fight two years ago when a partial shutdown of the federal government closed Utah's five national parks and other government operations.
Utah lost $3 million in visitor spending during the first 10 days of that shutdown.
Elements from the Associated Press were used in this story.