Returning senators are sworn in as the State Legislature begins its session, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013.

Ravell Call, Deseret News

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SALT LAKE CITY Students looking to become doctors would have an easier time getting into the University of Utah medical school, and parents would have greater access into how school districts spend public money if two bills considered Monday by the Senate Education Committee are passed by the Utah Legislature.

Both SB42 and SB128 cleared the committee by unanimous vote. The bills are sponsored by Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, and Sen. Daniel Thatcher, R-West Valley City, respectively.

Valentine's bill would provide $10 million in ongoing annual funding to the University of Utah to create an additional 40 medical school slots each year. He said the bill would solve a problem created by the Legislature, as years of budget cuts during the recession required shrinking the medical school's student capacity.

"We all recognized that there was going to be a day when we would have to start refilling those slots," Valentine said.

In addition to restoring funding to the school, Valentine said the bill is designed to address the shortage of medical professionals in the state. The wording of the bill mandates that the 40 slots be given to individuals who are likely to remain in Utah after completing their training, such as Utah residents or students who graduated from a Utah high school or university.

"The number of doctors we need in Utah is only going to escalate," Valentine said. "As we use taxpayer dollars to fund doctors, we ought to be looking at doctors that have a higher chance of staying in Utah."

Current statute mandates that 75 percent of the school's admitted students be Utah residents, the medical school's dean, Vivian Lee, said, with another eight slots being set aside for residents of Idaho. Even with those designations, Lee said, many qualified students are turned away each year because of lack of space at the U., which has the only medical school of the Utah System of Higher Education.

More here:
Funding for medical school and school transparency move forward