The deal to give Utahns a total of $220 million in tax cuts this year is only a few days old, and already lawmakers are beginning to bicker about just where those cuts should be made.

And, not surprisingly, the focus is on the sales tax on food.

Senate GOP leaders appear to be writing off the chances for any further reduction in the states's share of the sales tax on food, suggesting instead that lawmakers trim the sales tax on all purchases.

"That's definitely where the Senate is at right now," Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, told reporters after he and Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble, R-Provo, both pitched such a cut in postings to the Senate majority Web site, www.senatesite.com.

In fact, Valentine states on the Web site that, "Removing the sales tax from food is not a battle we are going to fight in the next 10 days — chiefly because the Speaker gave us his word he was not going to push it this year."

The Senate president goes on to say he's not ruling out reducing the general sales tax rate or even "some work on a more uniform statewide rate on food" because senators "like cutting taxes where appropriate."

And Bramble said in his posting that while there is not agreement on the tax cut package, both majority caucuses seem to like the idea of reducing the General Sales Tax Rate assessed by the state from the current 4.75 percent to, say, 4.7 percent.

House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, though, said his caucus wants the tax on food cut. And, the speaker said, GOP Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is also pushing for even more of the food tax to be trimmed.

Last year, lawmakers reduced the 4.75 percent state sales tax on food to 2.75 percent. One tax cut package last week had the state food tax dropping to 0.75 percent.

Curtis acknowledged that when the last year's tax cut package was being put together by House and Senate GOP leaders, he told the Senate leaders that "I would not push" another sales tax off food cut in the 2007 Legislature.

He said he has not. But, Curtis said, "many of my caucus" want the food tax cut again. And he is not going to stand in the way of his caucus' tax-cutting priorities.

Further, after the new revenue estimates for fiscal 2006-2007 came out last week showing another $77 million in ongoing tax revenue next fiscal year, Curtis said the governor made it clear he expects both the income tax and the state food sales tax be part of the tax cut package this session.

"The governor said he wants both. And other House (GOP) leaders, like (House budget chair) Ron Bigelow, have made it very clear to the senators that they want" a further cut on sales tax on food.