SALT LAKE CITY — A new deal may be close on a proposed constitutional amendment to remove the earmark for public education on the income tax.
Senate Majority Whip Ann Millner, R-Ogden, has been meeting with education groups to address concerns about Senate Joint Resolution 10.
"We're working very hard to restructure the language a bit to help address some of their concerns," she told reporters on Thursday.
SJR10 is part of a deal legislative leaders are offering Utahns to address budget issues: lawmakers are advancing House Bill 101, which removes the state portion of the sales tax on food. But that would only be contingent upon voters approving the constitutional amendment on the earmark. Republican legislative leaders have insisted this is necessary because of budget constraints. The sales tax funds a lot of government services, but it's not as steady of a revenue source as the income tax.
On Thursday, Sen. Millner said discussions with education stakeholders is centering around changing the language. The earmark would remain — but voters would be asked to allow the legislature to dip into the income tax for other needs.
"Income tax still would be used for public education. We would provide some guarantee around funding growth and inflation factor and putting that into the constitution so they know that’s being funded," she said. "We have built some guarantee in it, we’ve built some constitutional protection which are two of the things they've asked for. After that — they’re the priority — we would be able to use the funds for other state needs."
As of Thursday, negotiations were still under way. Meanwhile, the legislature is advancing both bills.
"UEA continues to oppose SJR10 in its current form. Our goal has always been to ensure education funding in Utah is prioritized, protected and adequate through constitutional language and guarantees," the Utah Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, said in a statement to FOX 13 News. "We are gathering input from our members to better understand how we can best represent educator concerns regarding the proposal to eliminate the constitutional requirement."
Sen. Jennifer Plumb, D-Salt Lake City, said they were also involved in the talks.
"We have been very much a part of these dialogues and our feedback has been sought throughout and heard, I’ve felt," she said.
There is a little over a week left in the legislative session.
"My goal is to get there by the end of the session," Sen. Millner said.
Added Senate President J. Stuart Adams, R-Layton: "The good thing is we have a very short legislative session. The bad thing is we have a very short legislative session."
