State employees and a number of state programs, especially those relating to transportation and education, will get a major influx of money today.

All of that will happen as 39 bills passed by the 2006 Legislature take effect today. At the same time, sex offenders will find themselves facing more stringent registration requirements, senior citizens will no longer be exempted from renewing state identification cards, and coin-operated car washes will be tax free.

Although the majority of new laws passed by the Legislature took effect May 1, those that are tied into the state budget take effect at the start of the new fiscal year today. Most of the legislation going into force today deals with program funding and employee compensation.

Transportation will get almost $200 million in new funding, and a law diverting 8.6 percent of the annual sales tax revenue to the transportation fund will also go into effect. That money will replace funding normally spent out of the general fund.

The University Science and Technology Research Initiative will formally become a program, and it will also receive $65 million in funding. Of that, $50 million will go to new buildings at the University of Utah and Utah State University, while $15 million will be an ongoing appropriation to fund the programs' expenses.

Raises are in store for all state employees, totaling 3.5 percent. There is also additional money to cover the increased health-care premiums.

Public education will see a fair chunk of new funding that will accompany the 6 percent increase in the weighted pupil unit. An additional $7.5 million will be appropriated to fund a fourth- through sixth-grade science and math teaching initiative, and another $500,000 will be used to help teachers get advanced credentials.

Outside of the budgetary bills, the state will also institute some new laws.

Sex offenders will now be required to renew their drivers' licenses every year, a measure aimed to better track them, and many of them will have to maintain their registration with the state their entire lives. Those with sex offenses outside of Utah will also have to notify state corrections officials if they are in the state for 10 days or longer.

Senior citizens who don't have drivers' licenses will also have to renew their state identification cards every five years. Previously, they were exempted after age 65 from having to renew the cards.

A number of tax changes will go into effect, primarily related to manufacturing industries, which were part of a tax-reform compromise worked out between Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and House and Senate leaders. There will also now be exemptions for most coin-operated machines, such as car washes and vending machines, as well as for taxis and horse-drawn carriages.

While most of the bills passed by the 2006 Legislature are now effective, one of the highest-profile changes — a 2 percent reduction in the state's share of the sales tax on food — will be in force until Jan. 1, 2007. The only other bills that will be implemented later this year are the removal of an age limit on the hunting of small game and rules for learner driving permits. Both of those will take effect Aug. 1.

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E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com