Legislature 2006: Laws under construction

Taxes, taxes, taxes.

Meet the top three issues facing Utah's 104 part-time legislators, who convene Monday on Capitol Hill for their annual 45-day general session.

By the time lawmakers adjourn at midnight March 1, it's likely they — along with GOP Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. — will have changed Utah's tax structure in ways not seen since the Utah state income tax was imposed in the early 1900s.

Utahns will also likely see the largest tax cuts in the state's history.

"In terms of tax policy, I think this will be a groundbreaking session," the governor said, because this is the first time in 50 years that Utah's tax structure has been so thoroughly scrutinized, including whether food sales should be taxed.

With a $1 billion surplus on the table for lawmakers to spend on public education, transportation and other state needs as well as tax cuts, Huntsman said he believes the 2006 Legislature "will be an unprecedented session that is made possible by an unprecedented economy."

House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, agrees this will be a unique session.

"This could be a groundbreaking year," Curtis said. "I'm an optimist, and I think we'll get it done — a flat income tax, remove the sales tax from food, most of it," said Curtis.

Other legislative leaders sound a little more cautious.

"There will be a tax cut. The size of the tax cut is still to be determined," said Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem. "We're now in the process of doing the budgets, trying to determine what portion of the revenues are sustainable, and what portion we should invest in the future."

What do Utahns want?

Taxes are complicated, and despite media attention over the past year and public hearings held around the state in the fall, it's likely many of the changes will come with little knowledge or approval of the general public.

The changes could well include a flat-rate income tax, removing the sales tax from food, adopting a single-rate sales tax statewide and giving businesses a wide range of tax breaks, a proposal that's being sold as economic development.

A new public opinion poll shows that in general Utahns like the idea of a 5 percent flat-rate personal income tax, pollster Dan Jones & Associates found in a survey conducted for the Deseret Morning News and KSL-TV.

Jones found 69 percent said they liked that idea.