Utah lawmakers have managed to squirrel away more money for Medicaid.

To the chagrin of Utah school districts, the Senate approved Wednesday a last-minute education funding bill that will require them to share their property tax revenue with public charter schools.

Gov. Gary Herbert's signature is the only hurdle remaining for a holiday memorializing the late Utah firearms inventor John M. Browning.

Call it another example of the law of unintended consequences.

Mercedes Pearce graduated from college last year, at age 19. She's now working at her first real job and said that she wouldn't trade her current situation for any amount of fun she could have had in high school.

For much of Utah's 45-day legislative session, conservatives have risen to support states' rights legislation, united in fiery opposition to a perceived over-reach of the federal government.

In a session otherwise devoid of fireworks, conservative Utah legislators were content to launch bottle rockets at a federal government they believe has overstepped its bounds.

An abortion bill that critics regard as Utah attempting to make a right out of two wrongs was approved this session and has already been signed by Gov. Gary Herbert, who called for and got an amendment first.

Legislation passed Thursday to enroll Rocky Mountain Power customers in the Cool Keeper program that cycles residential air conditioning off and on during peak use to conserve energy and save costs.

A House amendment allocating $2 million for design of a new pediatric unit at Provo's State Hospital failed to gain agreement from the Senate.

Public employees benefits in the state may never be the same -- at least for future hirees.

In the midst of his 2002 congressional campaign, Utah House Majority Leader Kevin Garn paid $150,000 to a woman threatening to go public with a past relationship.

Considering what they faced 45 days ago when the 2010 Legislature began, most legislators, lobbyists and special interest advocates were smiling Thursday night after the 104 part-time lawmakers adjourned.

Both political parties are taking tea party activists seriously and are wary of offending them – if they are not already actively wooing them for state races this fall. Just look at the governor’s election in Ohio. Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich openly touts his tea party credentials in his bid to defeat incumbent Democrat Ted Strickland. “I think I was in the tea party before there was a tea party,” Kasich famously told a Columbus crowd earlier this year. “This is a real movement with a real message about people’s frustrations by broken promises that leaders on both sides of the aisle would be foolish to ignore,” he went on to write in a blog posting.