Ruzicka believes tight state controls on human sexuality instruction let school boards say no to gay-straight alliances, which she says by their very nature connote sexuality. Buttars' bill, she says, would tweak existing state law to make that clear.

Bates believes Ruzicka's point will receive hearty debate.

But, he adds, if a gay-straight alliance or similarly chartered club by another name isn't talking about sexuality, but conducting service projects, as several principals have told the Deseret Morning News, it must be allowed if other extracurricular clubs are.

Banning them would conflict with the federal Equal Access Act — strongly backed by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch at its 1984 creation in attempts to halt discrimination against religious clubs.

"The Equal Access Act makes pretty clear, curriculum clubs are run by the school. But if kids want to get together and meet on other topics, if you open your door to any of those clubs, you open your door to all clubs," Bates said. "The state (already) has stepped in. And frankly, federal government has stepped in. . . . The U.S. Constitution has a supremacy clause, which means federal law will always trump state law."

Also during Thursday's taping, the governor:

• Said his $9.6 billion budget "very prudently" takes care of the state's needs, including bolstering some areas like education and salaries for public employees that have sometimes been underfunded.

He said his proposed budget — which includes $60 million in tax cuts compared to the $230 million that House Republicans have said they want — takes "advantage of the economic circumstances" of the state that have resulted in hefty surpluses.

"We can afford to do it," he said of the additional money he's recommending for schools and other programs. "We're not always so blessed."

• Proclaimed he's "never been more encouraged" in his fight to stop a plan to put high-level nuclear waste on land owned by the Goshute Indian tribe in Tooele County's Skull Valley, because some the proposed facility's backers are rethinking their funding.

Those backers, known as Private Fuel Storage, are dealing with "a state that essentially is a united front against them, and I think they're probably discovering pretty quickly that they found themselves in a relatively hostile environment here in Utah. . . .I believe that eventually, that will cause (their plans) to die of their own weight."

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E-mail: lisa@desnews.com; jtcook@desnews.com