Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. met privately with House Speaker Greg Curtis and Senate President John Valentine with the goal of coming to a budget comp- romise.
Valentine confirmed that a tentative deal was reached but refused to discuss details until after presenting them to Republican colleagues on Monday.
On the agenda Friday were Huntsman's "priority issues . . . what in my heart really matters," he said.
First on his list is state employees. Huntsman continues to push for $14.7 million to increase the pay for those making far less than their counterparts in local government and the private sector.
"It goes deep within our departments and agencies in identifying those public servants who have fallen woefully behind, in some cases egregiously so," Huntsman said.
That group includes troopers with the Utah Highway Patrol and officers with the Department of Corrections. But it doesn't end there.
Under Huntsman's plan, about two-thirds of all state workers would get a bump and the most underpaid could see an 11 percent raise, when the general cost-of-living increase of 2.5 percent is added.
The Senate's budget boss is squarely behind the governor, but his House counterpart still needs some convincing.
"My No. 1 priority is salaries, especially in light of House Bill 213," Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, said.
HB213 decreases the sick-leave benefit for state workers who turn in unused sick hours for health insurance after retirement. Legislative leaders say rising health costs have made the program too expensive.
The House agrees that troopers, in particular, need a boost, but House budget chairman Ron Bigelow, R-West Valley City, said they may differ with the governor beyond that.
The Legislature also agrees with Huntsman's plan - but not necessarily the amount - to provide incentives to lure new math, science and education teachers.
But Huntsman unveiled a new proposal Friday, saying he wants to bolster foreign-language instruction - not just by increasing the number of teachers, but broadening the variety.
"I would really like to begin to focus in the years to come on recruiting teachers who teach something other than German and French," he said. "The reality is we are entering a world where Chinese, Hindi and Arabic are going to be a whole lot more important."
Huntsman, former U.S. ambassador to Singapore, speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese.
Hillyard and Bigelow said Friday that they hadn't heard of this proposal, but at first glance believe it is worthy of discussion.
State leaders also plan to sort out another general increase in education funding. In the first round earlier this session, the Legislature appropriated a little less than $60 million more for public schools, but Huntsman is pushing for an additional $11 million.
Medicaid funding will most likely be the biggest sticking point between legislative leaders and Huntsman.
The governor favors spending $5 million restoring dental and vision benefits to the state-federal medical plan, while Bigelow said funding Medicaid growth, day care and adoption services may be more important.
The Legislature already passed bare-bones base budget bills that spend in the area of $8.7 billion. Huntsman hasn't signed House Bill 1 and House Bill 3 because he is waiting to see how the Legislature reacts to his demands in education, Medicaid and salaries.
State leaders still have $142 million in annual funds and $258 million in surplus cash to spend.
The budget discussions won't end this weekend.
Other issues remain in play, including tourism funding, drug treatment and - this session's hottest topic - transportation. All parties also want to make a hefty deposit into into the state's savings account known as the Rainy Day Fund.
mcanham@sltrib.com
