Senate panel OKs corporate-tax phaseout

"It's a fair criticism that we have to not look at any one tax in a vacuum," Valentine said. "But the governor was very, very insistent that he wanted to get this one moving forward so that he could start his economic development program."

Earlier Monday, Democrats urged their Republican counterparts to avoid making sweeping changes to the corporate tax system this year.

Otherwise, Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley, said, it will be very difficult for the proposed Tax Reform Task Force to make meaningful changes to the tax structure.

"If this is taken off of the table before we even start talking about tax reform, how will we be able to have any meaningful compromises? Everything will have to be shifted to the middle class," Mayne said.

Rep. Pat Jones, D-Salt Lake, said that if the corporate tax is sent to the task force, there is a much better chance that it will be fairly considered alongside other ambitious tax proposals. Those would include a flat tax and her own tax revision proposal to reduce the exemptions given to large families.

If it passed this year, however, then the state would have to find ways to cover those losses, most likely through higher taxes for middle-income families.

"One person's tax break is another person's tax burden," Jones said. "To take away a tax that is basically paid by out-of-state businesses does not make sense."

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Contributing: Bob Bernick Jr.; E-mail: lisa@desnews.com; jloftin@desnews.com