Utahns are showing early support for a constitutional amendment that would raise the cap on annual distributions from the Permanent State School Fund to public schools, increasing it from 4% to 5%.
As of 10:20 p.m., the state’s first early returns indicated that 70.83% of Utahns support Amendment B, while 29.17% oppose it.
The constitutional amendment doesn’t stand to raise taxes, because the Permanent State School Fund isn’t taxpayer-funded.
The fund instead stems from the federal Enabling Act, which Congress passed in 1894, granting millions of acres of land — known as Trust Lands — to Utah. The agreement requires revenue from business activities on these lands to be invested. Those earnings are then distributed among 12 key areas, including public education, health services and other state institutions.
Currently, public schools receive a collective 4% of those earnings, which totaled roughly $3.3 billion for the 2024-25 school year. That’s around $106 million that was distributed between all public schools.
If Amendment B had already been in effect this year, bumping the cap to 5%, schools would’ve seen closer to $120 million in School Learning and Nurturing Development, or “LAND,” Trust distributions.
Each public school determines the best use of those distributions through its School Community Council, which consists of parents and educators. How the money is spent can vary depending on the school’s unique needs.
Several organizations across the political spectrum supported Amendment B, including the Utah State Board of Education, the Utah Taxpayers Association, the Utah PTA and the Utah School Boards Association.
