1. $90 million property-tax cut
Lawmakers gave a $90 million property-tax cut. They also rejected more than $50 million in pending property-tax increases, which would have come if they'd done nothing about them this session.See Page A1, 17
2. Government can grow 7.1%
After a fierce fight over plans to hold government growth to 5.5 percent, lawmakers relented a bit, up to 7.1 percent.
See Page A18
3. Some pain, some gain for taxpayers
With most of the tax cut in the property-tax basket, there was little left over for other classes of taxpayers. Tax exemptions now and in the future will help some, while fee hikes hurt others.
See Page A17
4. Good news and bad for students
Utah's more than 100,000 college students may find tuition hikes a hard pill to swallow, but there was some off-setting good news for higher education.
See Page A19
5. A boost for public education
Public education budgets received a whopping $94 million increase, funding the vast majority of Gov. Mike Leavitt's priorities for the state's public schools.
See Page A19
6. Most reform bills get the boot
Government reform, as usual, had a bad time of it. Finally, a watered-down lobbyist disclosure bill passed. But other measures failed.
See Page A17
7. Phone service deregulated
State lawmakers giveth, and state lawmakers taketh away. Even as lawmakers were voting in favor of tax cuts, they also were deregulating US WEST's local telephone service. That will mean higher telephone bills for most residential customers - perhaps as much as $10 to $20 a month over the next three years - and lower rates for downtown Salt Lake business customers, who will benefit from increased competition.
8. Getting tough on young criminals
No more second chances for violent teen criminals with the passage of the serious youth offender bill, but officials hope adult offenders will make good on a second chance with the opening of a pre-release center this July.
See Page A21
9. Child-welfare system beefed up
The Legislature put major money into the child-welfare system to meet the terms of a lawsuit settlement. That means increased training for staff and services for foster parents and the children who have been abused or neglected.
See Page A20
10. Have gun, will travel
Guns, guns and more guns. The politically volatile issue of gun control was the target of two bills, one that mandates that cities cannot implement gun control laws more strict than the state, and the other that makes it easier for Utahns to legally carry concealed weapons.
See Page A20
Source of ranking: Deseret News political editor Bob Bernick Jr.