Utah families know what it means to live within a budget. When costs rise, they step back and ask the hard questions: What do we really need? What’s working? And what can we live without? It’s a reasonable expectation that government should do the same.

As legislators, there is no responsibility more important than being good stewards of your hard-earned dollars. That’s why we’ve asked every state agency and appropriations committee to take a close look at their budgets — identifying programs that are underperforming, duplicative, or no longer serving their purpose.

This isn’t about cutting what matters. Core services will always be funded. But at a time when life is getting more expensive, we have a duty to eliminate spending that doesn’t deliver real value — and either reinvest those dollars in programs that do or return them to the people who earned them.

We’ve already seen this approach work. Last year, higher education institutions saved more than $60 million by trimming administrative costs and low-performing programs. Those savings were redirected to strengthen workforce-focused education and, in some cases, reduce costs for students.

Utah’s approach is unique: we balance our budget every year, and every legislator plays a role in shaping it — ensuring voices from across the state are heard.

That’s what responsible government looks like: leaner, more accountable, and focused on results — so more money stays where it belongs, with Utah families.