Lawmakers are poised to infuse schools with $460 million in new spending, a sum that nearly doubles funding increases in the current year. They also have drawn nationwide attention by passing the broadest school voucher program in the country this session. And they have considered roughly 100 other education-related bills. The funding package unveiled Friday will boost per-pupil spending 8 percent. Included is a $2,500 raise for teachers, plus a one-time $1,000 bonus. Lawmakers also set aside money to put more learning software in classrooms. Poised to pass is a $7.5 million effort to expand all-day kindergarten programs statewide. Bills adding funding and tweaking procedures to oversee and expand charter schools are still working their way through both houses. The landmark voucher program was immediately signed by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. A bill amending that law debuted days later in the House. Bills awaiting Huntsman's signature or veto include the so-called Ritalin bill, which bars school personnel from suggesting psychiatric treatment for children, and a bill outlining how to create smaller school districts. Higher education has seen few funding bills passed. However, a compromise on gun laws at university campuses is in the works and could spell the end of a pending University of Utah federal lawsuit if it passes. A bill allotting $8 million to convert Utah Valley State College to university status is bound to pass. - Nicole Stricker and Sheena McFarland

Tax Cuts ÈSIDES NEARING COMPROMISE PACT

A tax cut compromise is beginning to take shape with both House and Senate Republicans bending from what were rock solid philosophical disagreements early on. With a record $1.7 billion revenue surplus, legislative leaders decided to give taxpayers back $220 million. The easiest decision among Republican leaders was to spend $30 million on targeted business tax cuts. The rest will be split between reductions of the personal income tax and sales tax. Here is how the compromise is shaking out: Lawmakers will most likely scrap the state's current deduction based income tax system and they say a flat tax is out of the question. So the new income tax plan will most likely be a simpler, less volatile credit based plan with a single 5 percent tax rate. To make sure that no one sees a tax burden increase, lawmakers will cut the total income tax by $110 million. They have also agreed to once again reduce the state's portion of the sales tax on unprepared food by 1 percentage point. And after dropping the county-option increases, Utah would have a flat food sales tax of 3 percent. This cut would cost about $60 million. Those three pieces still leave Republican leaders $20 million short of their promised $220 million cut. And they still have to get the majority of their colleagues to buy off on the deal. Much of the last three working days of the session will be spent shoring up this tax cut compromise. - Matt Canham

Soccer took center stage midway through the session as lawmakers rallied to revive Real Salt Lake's 20,000-seat stadium project in Sandy.

Marshaled by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., legislators approved a plan to divert $35 million in Salt Lake County hotel taxes to buy land, upgrade parking and improve infrastructure for a $110 million soccer stadium near 9400 S. State St.

The funding measure, which zipped through both chambers with crucial bipartisan support, mirrored a deal that was killed a week earlier by County Mayor Peter Corroon, who called it an "unsafe investment."

Some lawmakers complained about the "rush job" - citing polls that showed most taxpayers opposed the move. Others, particularly GOP leaders, argued the stadium would provide a rare tourism opportunity and an investment in economic development.

- Derek P. Jensen

Lawmakers may yet act to crack down on illegal immigration.

HB105, to allow state law enforcement officers to also perform some immigration agent duties on routine traffic stops, passed the full House and awaits a Senate vote. Law enforcement leaders statewide have expressed opposition to the bill.

HB437 would deny some state and local benefits, except those federally mandated, to an estimated 90,000 undocumented immigrants living in Utah. It would also repeal resident college tuition for eligible undocumented students. The measure awaits votes in the full House and Senate.

HB156, which would force employers to verify the immigration status of all employees using a free federal system online, also awaits its first floor vote in the House.

- Jennifer W. Sanchez

Health

& Human Services È

Lawmakers approved a plan to allow the state's Department of Health to create a preferred drug list.

The list would help contain Medicaid costs by identifying the most effective drugs, then negotiating discounts with manufacturers. Doctors can override the list.

The Health and Human Services budget committee made funding Medicaid programs and health care for children aging out of foster care its top priorities this session. Expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program and dental care for Medicaid patients also appear headed for approval.

A legislative task force also endorsed a 5 percent cap on Medicaid spending for one year.

And a House-passed bill aimed at saving women from cervical cancer - but stripped of $1 million for state-subsidized Gardasil shots - is headed for the Senate.

- Lisa Rosetta

Child Support È

It has been slow-going for several bills that deal with child support - including SB23, which would authorize the first adjustments to child support payment guidelines in approximately 14 years.

Passed by the Senate, the bill awaits final approval in the House.

A bill that would have required a noncustodial parent who fails to make support payments to post a bond died in the House; while a proposal to suspend driver licenses for nonpayment has passed both houses and awaits final agreement on a minor amendment.

The Legislature has approved two bills that deal with child support: one that allows electronic payments and another that allows the Office of Recovery Services to collect a $25 fee for its services.

- Brooke Adams

Road Safety È

For the fifth year in a row, an attempt to make driving without a seat belt a primary offense failed. The bill died in the House, where lawmakers waved the banner of personal freedom.

HB217 would make it a secondary offense for teenagers to talk on a cell phone while driving; it has passed the House but not the Senate. HB182, which would restrict cell phone use by adults, appears to be in permanent limbo.

HB237 would allow 6-year-olds to drive mini-off-highway-vehicles but would raise the legal age to ride adult-size OHVs to 10 years as long as an adult is watching. The bill passed the House and now is in the Senate. HB425 would allow people to drive street-legal all-terrain vehicles on streets and highways everywhere but Salt Lake County; it passed the House and now is in the Senate.

- Patty Henetz

Road Bills È

State highway projects could get a big boost with a new proposal for a $1 billion transportation bond. The proceeds would allow the state to jump-start a number of projects and pay the bond back with $100 million yearly installments.

Republican leaders announced Friday a budget package to allocate the single largest increase - $490 million - to transportation. That is $30 million more than the much-touted increase for education.

Meanwhile, HB158 proposes capturing three separate Salt Lake County taxes to buy land for the Mountain View Corridor in west Salt Lake County. The bill, which would make county residents accountable for the $300 million state road, passed the House but has yet to see Senate action.

-Patty Henetz

Crime &

Punishment È

The Legislature has approved HB228, which makes it a capital offense to murder a child younger than age 14. The Senate is holding HB93, which would make fatally abusing a child also a capital offense in some cases, until the budget is resolved.

The Senate also is holding HB86, which would increase the penalties for child kidnapping and certain child sexual offenses.

Both chambers have passed SB112, which makes Utah law conform with federal laws that limit sales of cold medication and requires stores to log purchases.

Teen dating partners could seek a protective order under HB28, which passed the House but is awaiting Senate action.

The House is considering SB221, which would create a task force to determine whether voters need better information about judges up for retention election. It has passed the Senate.

- Nate Carlisle

and Jeremiah Stettler

Environment È

A bill that removes the requirement that the governor, the Legislature and local officials approve major expansions within the current EnergySolutions radioactive waste disposal site awaits Huntsman's pen. He has until Tuesday to let it become law or veto it. Meanwhile, a bill to eliminate a perpetual care fund to address a leak or catastrophe at the radioactive waste landfill more than a century after it closes never took shape.

Lawmakers kept the budget for the state Department of Environmental Quality steady. Special projects to understand air-pollution and mercury are on the priority list to receive funding, although state funds for environmental programs will remain flat.

- Judy Fahys

Elections È

A presidential primary in 2008 would be costly, but Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and Republican leaders haven't nixed the idea just yet. If they can't find the additional $2.5 million needed to hold a Republican and Democratic primary on Feb. 5, then they will go to a preferential poll organized by the political parties. A bill to allow that poll, using some state money, is still making its way through the Legislature.

A bill making school board elections partisan has been pared down so it only applies to the state school board.

- Matt Canham

Morals & Religion È

Lawmakers have spent a lot of time debating bills that delve into emotionally charged issues such as religion, abortion and homosexuality, but so far no bill has been approved.

A bill banning all abortions has been changed back to a proposal that would immediately repeal Utah's abortion law if the U.S. Supreme Court reverses course. That bill awaits a Senate vote.

Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, has pulled a bill aimed at protecting religious expression because he does not want to open the door for extreme religious practices. And a bill seeking to restrict gay support clubs in high schools has been repeatedly amended and substituted but still requires a final House vote.

- Matt Canham

Local Government È

Cities are watching bills dealing with eminent domain and zoning restrictions and forms of government.

HB365, which has advanced to the Senate, would reinstate eminent domain for redevelopment purposes, with some protections for property owners. A third substitute bill has been filed for HB334, which clarifies prohibitions on property condemnation for recreational trails and emergency access ways. It is headed to the Senate after winning House approval.

Cities, environmental groups and even some developers have condemned HB233, which could make it easier to build on environmentally sensitive lands, including those prone to slides. That bill also remains in the House.