Tense is more fitting. Or strained. Or, at times, adversarial.

A year ago, Gov. Olene Walker was shot down by the Legislature in her plan to strip money from roads and divert it to schools even before the 45-day lawmaking session got under way. Her predecessor, Gov. Mike Leavitt, was often at odds with lawmakers, especially when he took his ideas public before vetting them with legislators. When he tried to cut water-development subsidies, he made enemies with rural lawmakers. And in 2001, when Leavitt refused to call a special session to discuss budget cuts, lawmakers were ticked.

There's at least a chance this year could be different. Utah's top three positions - governor, House speaker and Senate president - all have new occupants who will weigh a slew of old and fresh issues. Some may breathe new life while others will fall to the cutting-room floor.

Gone are the 12 years of Leavitt and Walker, six years of Speaker Marty Stephens and four years of Senate President Al Mansell. This is the time of Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., Speaker Greg Curtis and President John Valentine. The latter two are expected to be sworn in Monday to their new positions.

The era will be defined over the course of the next 45 days as legislators debate bills and Huntsman's office pushes and pulls for its agenda. So far, the Huntsman-Curtis-Valentine relationship appears to be one of harmonious convergence. How long it stays there is anyone's guess.

"We're actually going to get along pretty good," Curtis predicts. "Thus far, we haven't hit any major policy disagreements. I'm still optimistic, but we all recognize that time's going to come where there's going to be a disagreement."

The catalyst could be any one of an array of emotionally or politically charged issues waiting in the wings, with tax reform, marriage-like benefits for cohabiting adults, budget priorities and tuition tax credits possibly topping the list.

"Going in, we'll be looking to define ways for all of us to get along and achieve common ends," says House Minority Leader-elect Ralph Becker. "How long that good will lasts is very hard to predict."

Valentine says keeping the communication lines open among the three leaders is key. Huntsman, he says, has been good so far to ask for ideas and feedback on issues before taking them to the media.

If communication keeps up, by the end of the session, "Instead of being adversaries, we'll be more like partners," Valentine says.

There's no sense yet how the House, Senate and Governor's Office will work together, or spar, on the more controversial legislation.

And with about 725 requests for bills so far, there's bound to be turmoil.

Tuition tax credits - a tax break for parents who send their kids to private school - have ignited contention before. Bills allowing the credits have passed the Senate but failed in the House in recent years, possibly because Leavitt and Walker had threatened a veto.

"Huntsman isn't going to veto it," says Paul Mero, president of the conservative Sutherland Institute. "You're going to get the guys on the margins now."

With a few tweaks, such as means testing and standardized testing, Curtis says he will vote for the tax credits, a litmus-test issue with conservative lawmakers. Valentine says there will be no problem passing the legislation in the Senate. And Huntsman campaigned on school choice, though he scaled back support of across-the-board tuition tax credits.

"This is clearly the best opportunity parents of Utah have had for school choice in more than a decade," says Royce Van Tassell, director of Education Excellence Utah. But with polls showing public opposition to such tax credits, lawmakers and Huntsman could be in a precarious spot.

"When we hear that it's more likely to pass this year, we have to ask how much we're really reflecting the will of the state's residents," says Pat Rusk, president of the Utah Education Association, which will lobby against the tax credits. "Hopefully, we're listening to our citizens who don't want tuition tax credits."

Curtis says if the three top leaders and other legislators work together, a bill will probably pass: "It's going to be close, but it's one of those things."

Budget battles: What seems like a blessing now could turn into a turf battle during the session. After lean years of cutting and squeezing programs to balance the budget, state government is now flush with cash, with about $370 million expected in extra revenue this coming financial year. The rub, though, is where to spend it. Some say roads. Some say schools. And some say savings.

Huntsman revealed his proposed budget Friday and it is similar to Walker's, although it has some twists. He proposes significantly more for tourism, highway construction and beginning teachers. He also wants to give public schools their biggest increase in years and proposes restoring Medicaid dental benefits for poor and disabled Utahns.

Much of the Legislature's power is now centered in Utah County, where large-scale, growth-fueled transportation needs are apparent when freeways turn into parking lots at rush hour. Valentine, whose Orem district would benefit from state highway funding, wants to put some of the cash into roads and some into schools.

"All you have to do is come across the Point of the Mountain and sit in that traffic jam every single day and realize we have a transportation problem here," Valentine says. "I really believe it's going to be addressed in the session."

Curtis, too, says roads will be a priority, though money should flow into colleges and public schools because "enrollment growth in both is going up significantly." In tax-heavy Utah, tax cuts undoubtedly will also be proposed, though Curtis doesn't think that's the best approach. "I think we need to see sustainable growth for a couple years or more before we say tax cuts."

A taxing question: This could be the beginning of a multiyear, large-scale overhaul of Utah taxes.

Then a lame-duck governor, Walker in November released a proposal for widespread tax reform to smooth out the volatile tax stream and put Utah on a more solid footing going into the future. From imposing a one-rate income tax for individuals to adding a sales tax to services, her ambitious plan was guaranteed to raise hackles.

How much of her proposal will actually be adopted is unclear, but leaders say there will be some substantive changes this year.

"There will be some type of tax reform this session," Curtis forecasts. "There's enough synergy from all the parties involved" to get something done.

It probably won't be as all-encompassing as Walker's plan, but there are around 50 bills proposed to change the tax structure, from modifying how recreational vehicles are taxed to eliminating the corporate income tax.

Valentine, a tax attorney, says some reform will happen, but not in a single session. "You can't just throw together a new tax proposal and expect it to work," he says.

Huntsman, who calls the current tax structure outdated and campaigned on revamping it, is driving for some tax reform this session, such as changing the ways corporations are taxed, though he hasn't released all the details.

The Coalition of Religious Communities will be watching. Huntsman backed the group's ideas, according to its director, Linda Hilton, who wants to make Utah's tax structure friendlier to low-income people by spreading tax brackets and indexing income taxes for inflation.

"When he was campaigning, he was supportive," Hilton says. "Now he's elected. The rubber hits the road."

Amendment 3 fallout: One of the more contentious fights is legislation that would provide some marriage-like benefits for cohabiting adults.

During the 2004 campaign, Huntsman pledged his support for Amendment 3, a constitutional change meant to block gay marriage. At the same time, he suggested legislation for "reciprocal benefits." Fruit Heights Republican Sen. Greg Bell has put some of the same ideas into a draft bill that would grant cohabiting adults - grandmother and granddaughter and lesbian couples alike - end-of-life decision-making power, joint property ownership and inheritance rights.

But Huntsman's support for Bell's "Mutual Dependents Benefits Contract" bill is no guarantee lawmakers will go along.

Some have pointed to the marriage amendment as proof the public rejects any state approval of rights for gay couples.

"Gov. Huntsman tied that kind of legislation to his whole notion of bringing Utah into the 20th century. It's part of his agenda," says Scott McCoy, director of the Don't Amend Alliance.

Aside from the new leaders etching out their roles and approving or dousing proposals, Valentine says the 2005 session "is going to be a session of healing."

"We've had to do massive budget cuts for the last three years running and now we're able to heal things such as the employees' salaries," he says.

"Things that have had to be cut, delayed or placed in the 'maybe' status can now be revisited."

tburr@sltrib.com

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