This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

State senators appeared to become law-breakers on Tuesday. Their rules required them to pass this year's "base budget" bills by noon. But the last one cleared at 12:04 p.m., four minutes late.

No fines or jail time are coming. "It's in rules that we pass them by noon. But we suspended the rules," so they technically broke no laws, said Senate President Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy.

"It's a different story on the last night of the session" when the Legislature must cease passing bills at the stroke of midnight, he said. "That's in the [Utah] Constitution."

Base budgets essentially renew this year's budget for next year, if needed, which now have been sent to Gov. Gary Herbert for signature, Niederhauser said.

"The advantage is if we get to the end of the session and we can't come to some agreement" on new budgets, "we have a base budget in place so the government won't stop," said Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, Senate chairman of the Executive Appropriations Committee.

"Sometimes things are done the last night that hold everybody hostage, but with a base budget you don't have that same pressure on you," he said.

Hillyard said the base budgets contain about 95 percent of expected spending for next year. The Legislature will still wrangle over how to spend expected increases in spending, and put them in final budget bills.

Hillyard said lawmakers have received requests for more than twice as much in spending as expected revenue increases could fund.

— Lee Davidson