• Higher Education: A replacement of lost federal funds for the Utah Medical Education Council, as well as upgrades for the Utah Education Network were top priorities coming out of the Higher Education Appropriation Subcommittee Thursday. The two listings, however, only made a small dent in the group's $57 million-plus ongoing budget recommendation. They were followed by a number of mandatory costs and various initiatives that stand to bolster Utah's workforce.

"This is the committee, more than any committee on the hill, that drives the economy," committee co-chairman Rep. Kory Holdaway, R-Taylorsville, said. SB103, which divies money to each institution individually, placed low on their list as co-chariman co-chair Sen. Greg Bell, R-Kaysville, said "it's going to be funded at some level."

The group earmarked another $15 million or more for one-time expenditures, including items like the Regents Scholarship, more UEN funding and a libary consortium project.

• State buildings: Tops on the building priority list include an expansion of the Central Utah Correction Facility in Gunnison and a veterans nursing home in Ogden. Two other projects that were recommended are a new office building for the Department of Human Services and a new $25 million Utah Museum of Natural History building.

Total cost: was $150 million, the limit the Capital Facilities and Government Operations Subcommittee set when deciding what ultimately wild make it through the budget process this year.

"This has been a difficult year," said Rep. Kevin Garn, R-Layton, co-chair of the committee.

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Contributing: Leigh Dethman, Wendy Leonard, James Thalman, Jennifer Toomer-Cook, Ben Winslow
E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com