Corrections Lowers Its Budget Expectations

A year ago, if state legislators had forced the Utah Department of Corrections to run on a $185 million budget, Mike Chabries would have left Capitol Hill disappointed.

But the agency's director could be jumping for joy if his department leaves this legislative session with $185 million, the approximate level of funding recommended by Gov. Mike Leavitt.

"Everybody wants the news to be good," Chabries said of his wishes for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. "I don't know that there's a lot of good signs out there."

Chabries' lower expectations, inspired by the nation's stagnant economy and Utah's budget woes, will make a shoestring budget for 2002-03 easier to swallow.

Legislators and department heads have become adversarial in...