$omething for everyone: Programs and pork generously dealt with

With the tax cuts comes a new, 5 percent single-rate personal income tax system, cuts in the general and food sales taxes and reductions in half a dozen other taxes.

The spending plan for fiscal 2008, which starts this July 1, is also a record — around $11 billion (depending on how it is counted).

GOP lawmakers — tired of being painted as anti-public education, anti-teacher — specifically wrote the public education funding bill to include $2,500 base-pay raises for all teachers with a one-time bonus of $1,000 each, with more than $440 million in new money going to public education.

"We were treated very well," said state Superintendent of Public Education Patti Harrington. "We still have some work to do to get to the average Western level" of teacher pay. Utah is around $30,000 for a starting teacher, Colorado at $35,000 and Nevada at $38,000.

"We got all day kindergarten," funded, she added. "We're pleased with that." Huntsman listed that as one his main goals of this session.

Higher education got a bunch of money, too, and Utah Valley State College will become Utah Valley University — getting $10 million to fund the upgrade.

But even with so much spending, legislators still increased drivers' licenses by $5, specialty motor licenses by $2. The $2.8 million the raises bring will go toward staffing new DMV offices.

And some special hunting and fishing licenses will also go up, while a few others will go down. The additional money will help local state fish hatcheries with fish production so streams and lakes can be better stocked.

Legislators also took care of a number of high-profile issues with more tact and good humor than in recent sessions.

Early in the session, by one vote, the House passed the long-debated private school voucher bill. The Senate quickly followed suit and Huntsman signed it into law.

The bill will let parents who send their children to private schools in the future to qualify for up to a $2,500 tuition voucher. And late Wednesday legislators slipped in an additional $3 million to pay for vouchers.

The $12 million for the new program comes not out of education funds but out of general tax dollars — so opponents couldn't claim that public education funding was being harmed.

A bitter battle over abortion was avoided when a bill outlawing most abortions (clearly unconstitutional) was amended to outlaw most of the procedures should the U.S. Supreme Court overrule Roe v. Wade. Huntsman said he'll probably sign that bill.