As the snow came down outside, insiders got down to business Monday as lawmakers opened the 2008 legislative session.

The session is expected to bring raises for teachers, relief for property owners and reform for health care. But before that work began, ceremonies and the snow had to be dealt with first.

"I could regale you with some stories," suggested House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, as an ad-lib color guard was put together to replace those stuck in bad weather at the south end of the Salt Lake Valley.

After a late start, both houses of the Legislature opened the session with prayers, music and speeches from their respective leaders. Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, opened with a gavel used in 1897 before launching into a speech about the renovated Capitol.

After speaking of the work done over the past four years to make the building earthquake-proof, Valentine said that lawmakers in his house must deal with their own "unique seismic pressures."

"Sometimes we fracture along ego and pride," he said. "Our work is to govern well; it is not to seek retribution, fame or gratification."

Curtis mirrored many of the same sentiments.

"Serve with honor and serve with distinction, and you will find solace in your decisions regardless of the outcome," he said.

After all the ceremony, both houses were able to get to a few bills. Lawmakers could end up filing as many as 1,200 bills this session. And while there's hundreds of millions in budget surplus money, a questionable national economy has brought caution to the Capitol.

At the top of the list are teacher raises. While everyone agrees on the need, just how to get teachers the money is up in the air. Lawmakers say they want a repeat of last year's raises that bypassed school districts and went straight to teachers. The governor initially proposed using the districts, but isn't set on it, said spokeswoman Lisa Roskelley.

"I think that the mechanism is something we can work on as long as the outcome is higher-paid teachers," she said.