House Speaker Greg Curtis said Huntsman came into a private meeting Tuesday with a "huge olive branch," telling Curtis that, "I would like to help you at least get to $85 million."

Lawmakers have already approved $70 million in ongoing funds for roads, but new revenue estimates released this week show another $122 million in unexpected revenue for the state's budget.

Legislators' push for increased transportation funding had earlier collided with Huntsman's proposal for more education spending. The conflict had ballooned into the primary budget fight of the session. Until now.

Huntsman has ''shown a real good-faith effort and I want to match it,'' Curtis said.

On that note, the House speaker plans to drop his contentious House Bill 97, which would have automatically kept last year's budget in place in the event of a governor's veto of the Legislature's spending plan.

The bill, if passed, would have taken away a key negotiating club of the executive. Curtis tabled his bill later Tuesday and said he plans to have it studied this summer.

He said the move wasn't part of a deal cut with the governor. Instead, Curtis said he felt Huntsman was trying to cooperate with lawmakers and that dropping HB97 would help keep the relationship smooth.

Huntsman's chief of staff, Jason Chaffetz, said Curtis' remarks are a little premature. The governor has not yet signed off on $85 million for transportation but that agreement is a "distinct possibility," he said. Huntsman originally proposed $33 million in surplus funds for the Centennial Highway Fund, which would pay off debt from highway construction.

"We're discussing all the possibilities," Chaffetz said. "We're all riding the freeway of love at this point."

But lawmakers may not be through funneling money to transportation.

Rep. Stephen Urquhart, R-St. George, acknowledged that some lawmakers will want even more money for roads. The transportation budget committee recommended $95 million, even before the new revenues were identified.

"Some will want more, some less. We'll see which side will get 38 votes," Urquhart said, referring to the number of votes needed to pass a bill in the House.

Also on Tuesday, House Republicans agreed to fund $145 million in new buildings for higher education and other needs, including $13 million for 300 more prison beds at the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison.

Among other decisions, the House GOP Caucus supported: $50 million to continue restoration and earthquake-proofing of the Capitol; $48 million to renovate the University of Utah's Marriott Library; and $10 million for a teacher education building at Southern Utah University.

The Senate GOP Caucus has yet to take a position on the buildings.

If those buildings are funded in accord with the House GOP position, it would leave about $155 million in surplus funds for this fiscal year and $107 million in ongoing projected revenue left to spend on other priorities.

Lawmakers have already committed most of the state's $8 billion-plus budget by bucking tradition and passing a base spending plan early in the session. Still, the most contentious spending decisions remain to be sorted out in the final days of the session, which concludes March 2.

Chaffetz said Huntsman is still hopeful that his other priorities - including more money for education - make it this year. The governor also wants to ensure the state's savings account, called the Rainy Day Fund, gets some money.

Legislators, too, have wish lists for the remaining tax dollars.

tburr@sltrib.com