2008 Legislature: Session ends on quiet note

Not with a bang but with a whimper.

That's how the 2008 Legislature wrapped up its annual general session at midnight Wednesday in a calm, workmanlike fashion.

"There was comity, not comedy," joked Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., as one of the more quiet sessions in a decade came to an end.

Utahns get a new $13 billion state budget, a small sales tax hike for roads, an income tax cut for the 70,000 citizens who buy their own health insurance and around 300 new laws to obey — minus the handful that might be vetoed by Huntsman.

This is an election year for Huntsman, all 75 House members and half of the 29-member Senate. And after voters last November slapped down conservative Republicans over the private school voucher law, which citizens strongly rejected, this 45-day session was never set up to be a battle-ground affair.

GOP leaders banned any talk of vouchers and set about funding public education as much as possible.

In fact, the major public fuss this session was not over policy or power but a verbal stumble by Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, who referred to a black baby and a dark, ugly thing during a mid-session debate over a school finance bill.

Buttars refused to resign, even though the Utah chapter of the NAACP demanded he do so, and he announced he will seek re-election this year.

The Buttars saga aside, House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, said he thought the session went well. "It was very civil, cordial, and perhaps a bit slower-paced than it actually should have been."

With only a few hours left, the House and Senate were still haggling over some important, but small, budget items. For example, out of nowhere, House leaders complained, the Senate amended a routine revenue bond bill to authorize the University of Utah to build a new business building with little or no discussion beforehand.

Some of the major actions of the part-time Legislature include:

• Public education teachers will get healthy raises of at least $1,700 each. Lawmakers wanted to do more for public education, but late-session tax revenue updates showed there would be more than $300 million less than originally anticipated. Still, it represents a 19 percent raise for teachers over the past three years and, Huntsman said, is a proud accomplishment.

• Tough anti-illegal immigrant bills that will make it harder for undocumented citizens to find work or obtain public benefits, taking effect in July 2009.

• A start at what Huntsman and legislators hope will become comprehensive health-care reform. It includes an $18.7 million tax cut for Utahns who buy their own health insurance.