The three items are "critically important for the long-range health of the income tax, for education funding and critical transportation needs," Mower said.

"These changes will provide a stable tax system, which will help Utah families, individuals, businesses and economic development," he added.

Already, a commuter rail line is being built from Weber County, through Davis County, to Salt Lake City's mass transit hub near The Gateway in Salt Lake City. Utah County is set to vote on building commuter rail through that county.

Curtis said it makes no sense to have commuter rail finished north of The Gateway, and commuter rail finished up to the Utah County/Salt Lake County line and then have "30 miles of no rail between them."

"We see these three components as working together" to give a political solution to several tough issues, the speaker said.

Valentine said while Senate GOP leaders have agreed to discuss the options, they are not as firmly behind the three-prong approach as are House leaders.

Personally, Valentine said he likes the Option C income tax reform. And he's more comfortable with the transient room tax going to commuter rail in Salt Lake County.

"But I'm worried about increasing the sales tax" for TRAX extensions. Sales tax also goes to funding general state government, and it goes to help build surface roads. Taking too much sales tax could harm both those needy government areas, Valentine said.

Legislative approval is needed by mid-September, Curtis said, because private firms that deal with Utah's electronic income tax payments, like TurboTax, must have time to modify their software in order to have the fixes by 2007.

Tax brackets could be widened right away, said Curtis, so taxpayers can take advantage of those tax cuts for the 2006 tax year.

The flat rate income tax reform part of the deal would not be available until the 2007 tax year, the speaker said.

Huntsman has repeatedly said that he won't support any income tax changes that don't include a flat-rate income tax reform. In other words, he wouldn't let lawmakers just give tax cuts under the current tax system.

But Huntsman would go along with the two-step income tax change "because we'd pass one bill in the special session that includes both the broadening of the current brackets for 2006 and the flat-rate income tax system for 2007," Curtis said.

Republicans in the Senate are less comfortable with the suggested tax/mass transit package, sources said.