Over the next year, all of the state's information technology functions will be consolidated into the new department. The expectation is the department will operate more efficiently and save the state money.

Today marks the beginning of a new budget year. Utah's nearly $9 billion budget includes a 2.5 percent pay raise for state workers and significant increases in spending for both education and roads.

Other bills that become law today include one making it a misdemeanor for alcohol-restricted drivers — those who have been convicted of driving drunk in the past two years — to have any measurable or detectable amount of alcohol in their bodies.

Another requiring Internet providers to offer software filters for blocking pornographic Web sites is being challenged in court and so won't be enforced. The attorney general's office has put on hold efforts to compile a of list of sites considered pornographic

And as of today, there's a new driver's privilege card for undocumented aliens that cannot be used for identification purposes. The card was approved after a state audit found Utah was being used as "a portal for undocumented aliens living out of the state to obtain driver's licenses."

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