Meanwhile, fiscally conservative House members say a $210 million tax cut is not enough. They predict that state government will grow too much unless $300 million to $400 million in taxes are cut this year.

Jones finds that legislative Republicans are politically smart to give big tax cuts.

Sixty-eight percent of Utahns who say they are Republicans — two out of every three Republicans — want significant tax cuts, the poll finds.

Sixty-nine percent of those who say they "strongly" vote Republican each year want the tax cuts, with a quarter favoring the House's $300 million in cuts.

Thus, the party base seems to be clearly on the side of big tax cuts.

Jones found that Utah Democrats are cooler to tax cuts. But even 50 percent of Democrats want tax cuts, with 18 percent saying that they would rather not get any tax cuts and have the money spent on needy state programs.

Last year, legislators gave $180 million dollars in tax cuts when they had around $1 billion extra.

GOP legislative leaders say it's fair to give $210 million in tax cuts this year, given the state had about $1.6 billion in tax surpluses.

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E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com