Lawmakers swap barbs over competing tax plans

Dueling tax-reform proposals led to an exchange of sharp words Thursday among lawmakers.

On one side, critics of a 4 percent flat-rate tax proposal say it will punish the poor and enrich the wealthy.

On the other, opponents of the so-called "Jones-Mascaro" plan — which among other things would limit the number of exemptions for dependent children — say the proposal is fundamentally flawed.

Reps. Pat Jones, R-Cottonwood Heights, and Steve Mascaro, R-West Jordan, are displeased that the Tax Reform Task Force won't give their state income tax revision plan "a full hearing."

But Thursday, a task force subcommittee did listen to the pair for about 20 minutes, with a few sharp words exchanged both during the public meeting and afterward.

"Our bill would pass if all legislators, and especially the citizens of this state, could see how our plan stacks up against a flat-rate tax," Mascaro said.

Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, said after the meeting that as co-chairman of the task force, he's willing to present the impacts of their bill — HB197 in the 2005 Legislature — to colleagues. But Bramble makes no promises as to whether the Jones/Mascaro bill, which in different versions has failed in the House twice before, will get serious consideration as the huge tax reform effort moves forward this summer.

"If we don't" get a full hearing, an upset Mascaro said after Thursday's meeting, "it will be strictly against what the House Revenue and Taxation Standing Committee instructed" at the end of the 2005 Legislature, when the committee specifically referred HB197 to the task force.

Jones said 87 percent of Utah families would pay a bigger tax under the flat-rate proposal.

But Bramble said a preliminary subcommittee recommendation endorsing a 4 percent flat-rate income tax is just that — preliminary.

All kinds of changes could be made before the task force makes final recommendations in the fall and the Legislature and Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. take up the issues before the 2006 general session in January.

"We're still several steps away from turning anything into law," Rep. Steve Urquhart, R-St. George, reminded committee members and the public.

But Mascaro, Jones and supporters of their bill worry that GOP legislative leaders are moving down a track of a flat-rate income tax, refusing to seriously consider alternatives.

Many GOP lawmakers have turned their backs on the Jones/Mascaro bill. And Thursday, Bramble, a certified public accountant, said the bill "is wealth redistribution," something he personally opposes.