Before Valentine announced progress was being made on the governor's request, Huntsman said some $36 million in non-lapsing funds could be tapped to pay for the boost. There was also talk of using some of the $100 million set aside for unexpected enrollment growth by the GOP majority.

The Utah Education Association has been lobbying for an additional 1 percent WPU hike or its equivalent, President Kim Campbell said.

"If the WPU is only 2.5 percent, that means it's got to pay for health insurance increases, programmatic increases, it's got to pay for anything else in a district," Campbell said. "There's still a lot of money...going to new programs," Campbell said. "I don't think this is the time to begin a new program...we ought to make good on our commitment on things that matter most."

In other news Thursday, Head Start leaders pushed for legislators to fund Rep. Lou Shurtliff's HB330 to give $700,000 to extend the federal pre-school program for low-income and disadvantaged children to another 100 kids — on a waiting list of some 1,500. The $37 million federal program, which also helps parents learn to help their children, has not kept pace with growing need, advocates say.

House Majority Assistant Whip Brad Dee, R-Washington Terrace and board chairman of the Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership over Head Start, backs the plea.

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