Compendium of Budget Information for the 2009 General Session

Commerce & Workforce Services
Appropriations Subcommittee

Line Item: Speech and Hearing Impaired

Function

The Speech and Hearing Impaired Program provides telecommunication access twenty-four hours a day to hearing or speech impaired persons through Relay Utah. The services are now contracted through SPRINT. SPRINT employs people who use a computer to receive text telephone messages from a TTY (text telephone) and relay the information to the called party.

The Commission loans specialized telecommunications equipment to individuals who have hearing or speech barriers. The Commission has an advertising campaign to educate the deaf and the hearing public about 7-1-1 and the telecommunication relay service.

Funds collected and carried over from the previous year are used to fund the complete program.

The major activity of this budget is telephone calls and demand is increasing. With the implementation of two-way pagers, there is a shift nationally in the way deaf people communicate. The FCC is encouraging states to implement Video Relay Service which would complement the services already provided by Relay Utah.

Funding Detail

Sources of Finance	2005 Actual	2006 Actual	2007 Actual	2008 Actual	2009 Approp
Dedicated Credits Revenue	$1,312,500	$1,355,900	$1,367,500	$1,364,500	$1,299,100
Beginning Nonlapsing	$3,899,800	$3,945,500	$3,824,800	$3,190,900	$2,361,500
Closing Nonlapsing	($3,945,600)	($3,824,900)	($3,190,700)	($2,461,900)	($1,434,800)
Total	$1,266,700	$1,476,500	$2,001,600	$2,093,500	$2,225,800

Programs:	2005 Actual	2006 Actual	2007 Actual	2008 Actual	2009 Approp
Speech and Hearing Impaired	$1,266,700	$1,476,500	$2,001,600	$2,093,500	$2,225,800
Total	$1,266,700	$1,476,500	$2,001,600	$2,093,500	$2,225,800

Categories of Expenditure	2005 Actual	2006 Actual	2007 Actual	2008 Actual	2009 Approp
In-State Travel	$5,500	$8,600	$10,300	$17,600	$13,300
Out of State Travel	$3,000	$2,000	$1,400	$1,700	$2,500
Current Expense	$1,258,200	$1,203,700	$1,989,900	$2,074,200	$2,210,000
Other Charges/Pass Thru	$0	$262,200	$0	$0	$0
Total	$1,266,700	$1,476,500	$2,001,600	$2,093,500	$2,225,800

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