A bill phasing out Utah's corporate income tax, considered key to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s economic development plans, won Senate approval Wednesday.

SB195, sponsored by Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, was passed 23-5-1 to the House after several Democrats raised concerns the state was moving too quickly.

The bill would begin phasing out the 5 percent corporate income tax in two years, eliminating it entirely by 2012. It would also create a new formula that companies could use to calculate their tax liability.

"This will give the governor a chance to prove this is a good economic development tool," Bramble said. "That's why we're proposing it now — to give him a kick start on his economic revitalization."

Sen. Patrice Arent, D-Murray, said the bill is "truly a leap of faith," since changes to individual income, sales and other taxes won't be dealt with until next session. Those taxes are set to be reviewed by a tax reform task force created by lawmakers.

"Let's not take something critical off the table now," Arent said. "Let's study it and see if it makes sense."

Another Democrat, Sen. Ed Mayne of West Valley, also said the issue should be sent to the task force. "If this task force is really going to be successful, we should have everything on the table for discussion," he said.

Mayne, head of the Utah AFL-CIO, offered his own ideas about tax reform, suggesting middle-income Utahns should get a hefty tax break.

"We'll go out and buy cars and homes and furniture and take our wives to dinner," he said, calling the bill a tax shift to working families.

Both Arent and Mayne said companies looking to relocate consider factors other than taxes, including the quality of schools, the workforce and transportation.

Bramble said the bill puts the "burden on the executive branch to perform" and called the tax repeal a tool to attract new businesses to Utah.

The effort to eliminate corporate income taxes ran into trouble in the House earlier this session when representatives gutted a similar bill to remove the repeal. The Senate moved to revive the legislation by substituting an unrelated bill.

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