WASHINGTON - Utah's Dugway Proving Ground would get a new homeland security mission, while public lands programs, health coverage and other domestic spending would be trimmed under President Bush's 2006 budget request.
   The big winners were Utah's military bases, which would get $52 million in new construction projects.
   Besides $25 million sought for rebuilding the main runway at Michaels Army Airfield at Dugway, the Department of Homeland Security has chosen the secretive military compound in Tooele County for a new mission: training first responders how to deal with biological and chemical weapon terrorist attacks in the western United States, according to Utah congressional staff briefed by the agency.
   The Department of Defense also is asking Congress to spend $19.5 million to add onto the state-of-the-art computing center at Hill Air Force Base and has chosen the Ogden Air Logistics Center at Hill to handle structural repairs of the new F/A-22 Raptor stealth fighter jet.
   Although only a $4.6 million request, the decision to have Hill handle repairs of the F/A-22's radar-evading composite body could cement the depot's role as the military's central fighter jet maintenance center as insurance in upcoming rounds of base closures. It could also pave the way for Hill to win the repair work for the F/A-35 Joint Strike Fighter, another new Air Force jet that appears to have a more certain future than the Raptor, which the new budget cuts back in anticipation of ending purchases in 2008.
   The president's budget includes $3.2 million for Camp Williams Army National Guard Readiness Center, a program that congressional staffers say will likely include a multi-force linguistics training program.
    The $2.57 trillion spending proposal is the starting point for the budget in the fiscal year beginning Oct 1. Congress will massage the president's figures in the coming months as it sets the funding levels for the federal agencies.
   Bush seeks to restore funding for a feasibility study of a nuclear bunker buster bomb that was axed by Congress last year. Bush is seeking $4 million in the coming fiscal year, which would include design, planning and risk analyses and an impact test with an unarmed device. Funding would jump to $14 million in the 2007 fiscal year.
   ''Look, I am very disappointed but not surprised and I've been saying for a long time this is a long-term fight,'' said Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, who has warned the program could mean resumption of nuclear weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site. ''It's bad for our troops, it's bad for our military and it's bad for the state of Utah.''
   As expected, the Defense Department did not request construction funds for a chemical weapons disposal facility in Pueblo, Colo., while the department studies other options, including potentially moving the aging stockpile of mustard gas to the Army's incinerator in Tooele for destruction.
   At the Interior Department, the tight budget seeks to cut $195 million from grants and payments made by the department to state and local governments, including wiping out an $89 million National Park Service grant program supporting state parks.
   "Because it's a tight budget year, because of our push to reduce the federal deficit . . . we have been looking at ways to trim these programs that have other funding sources and are not federal priorities," said Interior Secretary Gale Norton. It would fall to the states to cover the budget cuts.
   The administration is also proposing $27 million in cuts to the Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes program, or PILT, which compensates states that can't tax federally owned land within state borders. Full compensation of states for lost tax revenue would cost $340 million in the current fiscal year. The Bush budget for next year seeks less than $200 million, the lowest level since he took office. Last year, Utah received $19 million. If past percentages hold, the cuts could cost the state more than $2 million.
   "It's outrageous. Absolutely outrageous," said Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, chairman of the House Western Caucus. "We have all these people who think our public lands are America's public lands, and I agree, but you've got to pay for them."
   Cannon predicted vocal, unified opposition from Western members of Congress, and a push to restore funding to the program.
   "Somebody at [the White House Office of Management and Budget] needs to look at the map and see who elected them," Cannon said.
   States also would feel the pinch under a proposed $60 billion reduction over the next 10 years to Medicaid, the federal-state program that provides basic health care services to 46 million people, including more than 204,000 children, seniors and people with disabilities in Utah. Health and Human Services Secretary and former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt said payment reforms, new reimbursement policies and greater flexibility in how states administer the federal funding will mean coverage for more people.
   "I remain increasingly optimistic in our ability as a nation to meet the needs of the truly needy in this country and to foster an ethic of self-reliance," Leavitt said.
   The change would cut Utah's share of federal Medicaid funds by $253 million over the next decade, according to Families USA, a Medicaid watchdog group. Governors and state legislators from around the country are preparing a major lobbying push to convince Congress not to force states to shoulder more of the financial burden for the program.
   Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said he doesn't see "eye-to-eye" with Bush on all the proposed reductions, but said Congress must work to reduce federal spending.
   "I think the President's broad priorities are right on target: defense and homeland security need to come first," said Hatch. " But as for the rest, Congress will have to make some tough choices."
   Among those choices are proposed cuts in the community development block grant program (CDBG) - a reduction of $1 billion and consolidating it with 17 other programs.
   Some city leaders and social welfare providers in Utah are alarmed at the looming budget axe. The program ''could be gone tomorrow," said LuAnn Clark, the director of Salt Lake City's housing and neighborhood development division. ''It's scary.''
   Salt Lake City receives $4.65 million of the $22 million CDBG funds sent to Utah annually. The money is used for emergency home repairs for low-income residents, public service providers such as homeless shelters and access improvements for the disabled.
   The president's proposed budget would eliminate several funding sources police agencies in Utah are using, including the Community Oriented Policing Services Hiring Grants and the Byrne Justice Assistance Grants.
    Eliminating both grants will save $635 million a year, according to the budget.
    Police departments used that money, however, to hire new officers and to fund narcotics and gang task forces.
    "We're just holding our breath to see how badly it will affect us," said Pleasant Grove Police Chief Tom Paul, president of the Utah Chiefs of Police Association.
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   Tribune reporters Jacob Santini and Justin Hill contributed to this report.