Still, Valentine said, there will be a push for a straight tax cut in the special session. "It would be really sad because then we would have lost the ability for tax reform," he said, describing opposition to tax reform as favoring "a higher rate and a complex system."

Curtis told an audience at the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics Thursday that he wanted to see income tax reform pass but he just couldn't muster the support of his caucus.

"I could not put any more pressure on my colleagues," Curtis said.

Both Curtis and Valentine, who also appeared at the U., said the governor made some blunders that contributed to the deal's demise. "There is a fine, fine line between exerting yourself" and putting too much pressure on lawmakers, Curtis said. "And I think (Huntsman) crossed that line."

Valentine said the governor "probably got a little bit too aggressive, and there was a backlash, especially in the Senate." At one point, the Senate GOP proposed asking voters this November if they wanted the sales tax off food, an idea that was quickly abandoned.

The governor said he may add one other item to the special session agenda — pay raises for state executives, including the governor and other elected officials. A bill that would have given them a 3 percent pay hike failed to pass in the final hours of the regular session.

What won't be on the agenda is his proposal to fund full-day kindergarten programs for disadvantaged students. Huntsman said the proposal's rejection was one of the major disappointments of the session, but he'll wait until the 2007 Legislature to try again.

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