1. Statewide road needs are addressed


2. The funding plan must be affordable to all Utahns. Any tax impact must respect the challenges of those who are struggling to buy a home, commute to work and raise a family


3. Expand and improve highways will have a 20 to 30 year life span, and part of the costs should be covered by future users


4. Those who use more should pay more through user taxes


5. Many of these roads are federal highways. The federal government should pay its share.

• strengthening education
• controlling government growth
• supporting modernizing our roads
• redirecting welfare into a job placement focused system
• continuing efforts to protect children from abuse and neglect
• fighting crime with 1,208 new corrections beds and other capacity

Public Education
Education continues to be a top priority of the Leavitt administration. Over the past three years, record increases have been made in education spending. This year's budget includes $132.5 million in new funding for public education with continued emphasis on class size reduction and education programs for those who are disabled or at risk. Governor Leavitt also appropriated new money for information technology in this years budget including Technology 2000 and enhancements for EdNet/Utah Link.

Controlling Government Growth
Governor Leavitt's budget does not include a general inflationary increase. He has asked departments to absorb inflationary costs by becoming more efficient. During the budget process, each agency was asked to evaluate ongoing programs within its base budget. As a result of this process, more than $12 million in program reductions and shifts in funding priorities occurred.

Criminal Justice
The criminal justice budget includes a nearly 36 percent increase in funding for both youth corrections and juvenile courts. Part of this funding is for a completely new sentencing system emphasizing swift and early intervention for young offenders. It is also much tougher on repeat or violent juvenile offenders than current sentencing practices. Included in the cost of the new sentencing guidelines are 60 new probation officers, eight case managers, and funding for a newly created state supervision process. The budget also increases new and planned space for both adult and juvenile offenders by 1,208 beds or placements: 540 beds for adults, most of which will be in a new privatized women's multi-custody facility; and 668 beds and other placements for juvenile offenders.

Child Welfare
This year marks the fourth year of the state's commitment to reforming Utah's child welfare system. In 1994, the Legislature passed the Child Welfare Reform Act. Since that time $190.9 million in additional state and federal funds related to Utah's child welfare system have either been appropriated by the Legislature or are recommended in this budget. This year, Governor Leavitt recommends adding 84 staff members to conduct investigations, manage cases for children in state custody, family preservation, protective supervision, and to facilitate foster care, licensing and adoptions. The budget also includes funding for placement and treatment options for children in the state's custody and increases in the rates paid for foster care, completion of a child welfare information system and statewide implementation of foster care citizen review boards.

Work Force Services
Efforts to reinvent Utah's welfare system will also continue with this budget. The governor has recommended $225 million in total funding for the new Department of Workforce Services to replace traditional welfare with a comprehensive network of programs designed to help people become self-sufficient. Full implementation of welfare reform will be completed during this budget year. The funds are generated through reorganization of existing departments.