Guard getting state tax waiver

It took Utah lawmakers slightly less than three hours to spend more than $8.7 million Wednesday during their fourth special session — and their first in their new temporary quarters.

Much of the money will be used to give Utah members of the National Guard and Reserve units sent overseas an exemption from paying state income taxes on their military earnings, a break that carries a $5.5 million price tag.

Another $3.1 million will go to the state prison in Draper, for security fencing and other improvements intended to help the facility accommodate the rapidly growing number of female inmates.

And $152,000 will be spent to protect the archaeological finds on the state-owned ranch at Range Creek, located about 130 miles southeast of Salt Lake City, behind the Book Cliffs near the Carbon-Emery county border.

All of the proposals easily passed, as did a technical change to legislation passed last session that dealt with bank trustees.

The income-tax exemption had raised the most questions before the special session, but lawmakers attempted to resolve concerns about not extending the break to full-time military personnel through adopting intent language.

That spells out the tax break is aimed only at the part-time soldiers whose lives have been disrupted because they've been called up to serve overseas. "This is in no way disrespecting the full-time military personnel," said the bill's sponsor, Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo.

Bramble said the tax break would amount to as much as $2,500 for a Utah family. The exemption is for the 2004 tax year only, however. Lawmakers will consider making it permanent when they meet again in January.

The new construction at the state prison caused the most debate. The House spent about a half-hour questioning the need for using a share of the money that had been allocated toward the purchase of Salt Lake County's Oxbow Jail.

That deal, which would have added some 500 beds to the state prison system, fell through. Prison officials have scrambled to come up with a new plan to house more inmates and proposed upgrading an unused minimum security facility.

Their plan would use $1.5 million from a federal grant for the project, plus another $1.54 million in state funds to build a new facility that will house an existing inmate training program that has to be relocated.

Federal officials have not yet signed off on using the grant money, however, so lawmakers had to come up with an alternative that would allow state capital improvement funds to be used for the upgrade project.