The 5-percent rate is competitive with lower state income tax rates in surrounding Western states, the governor says.

A gentler session

Conservative GOP legislators also say that taking $220 million out of state spending and pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into road projects holds down general government spending — a must-do goal considering that state government over the past two years has grown more than 17 percent.

The tenor of the 2007 session has been more calm and cooperative than last year's session, which often saw GOP House and Senate members sniping at each other.

Curtis referred to this year's "kindlier, gentler" session last week when he asked House Republicans to accept a reworked Huntsman single-rate income tax bill that had already been accepted by the GOP Senate.

In short, Curtis was saying if the House didn't accept the new bill, there would likely be a fight as nasty as the final day of the 2006 Legislature — when House Republicans refused to even vote on Huntsman's old flat-rate tax system, forcing a summer special session.

"It's hard to characterize this session," says House Minority Leader Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake.

Many major budget decisions remain, partly because Republicans worked so hard on an income tax package last week. "They didn't want that to end like it did last year," said Becker.

"Here we have three days left, and we really don't know where all this extra money is going," he adds. Between this year and next, legislators had an extra $1.6 billion to spend, a record.

"We still haven't seen the major income tax bill — that's a dangerous way to make a major policy decision." Becker learned the bare details of the GOP single-rate income tax plan from a newspaper reporter.

"They say public education will be taken care of, but we haven't seen how. (Democrats were not briefed before a Friday afternoon news conference in which GOP leaders announced $441 million more for public schools.)

"We've seen how they want with some of it — vouchers" for private school tuition that actually takes money out of the state's general fund, he said.

"It's been a mixed bag, a very controlled and managed session, with many of the major decisions coming behind closed doors" between Huntsman and GOP legislative leadership, Becker said.

But for all the frustrations, Valentine and Curtis say they want more. Both men will run for re-election in 2008. And both Valentine and Curtis said they plan to seek another two-year term in leading their respective bodies — making overall terms of six years as the top Senate and House leaders, should they win.

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