A BOOST FOR THE OPEN-SPACE FUND

Members of the state's Quality Growth Commission have received some hopeful news. Governor John Hunstman Jr. has asked lawmakers to provide a substantial boost to the Leray McAllister open-space fund. It looks promising that he will at least get some funding, due to the state tax revenue projections. You can find the article here.

It is good to see that this is a priority to the Governor. He has initially asked for $5 million for this fund, although Republican lawmakers have offered a one-time only $3 million. Hopefully they will be able to work together to create ongoing allocations for funds such as the Leray McAllister open-space fund, which currently has less than $800,000. The attempt by Gov. Huntsman is very appreciated by those in favor of open-space preservation. I think we are fortunate to have a governor who has open-space preservation as a priority, especially at the present time when funding for preservation continues to diminish, and also because Initiative 1 was shot down last November. The only thing stopping the Governor are those who have different priorties and ideas of how a projected $122 million in extra tax revenue should be used. The article also states that many of our lawmakers have plans to use this revenue for the roads and highways.