However, McCoy said he was disappointed that some issues he sees as truly moral weren't acted on. Lawmakers didn't raise the minimum wage, fund vision and dental care through Medicaid, or adequately fund disability services, he said.

"We need to take care of our most vulnerable citizens, especially in a time of such prosperity," McCoy said. "A minimum wage increase for our working poor families. That outright ought to be our moral imperative."

Some advocates for social bills agreed that supporting society's most vulnerable individuals is a moral value.

"The bottom line is the health and well-being of our citizens," said Fraser Nelson, executive director of the Disability Law Center. "To spend time on those 'message' bills takes away from the core issues."

Mike Thompson, executive director of Equality Utah, sees the death of nearly every bill his group opposed as an indication that "trying to tackle legislating morality is not at the top of their list."

Buttars declined to say what moral bills Utahns might see next session. But as for bringing back a bill regulating public school science lessons on Darwin's theory of evolution and the origins of life, Buttars is uncertain.

The House gutted, then voted down SB96, which Buttars had hoped would stop teachers from telling high school biology students they evolved from apes, which he says has rocked some children's faith in creation. As Buttars put it on the session's last day: "A number of Mormon legislators believe we evolved. I don't. I believe I'm a child of God."

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