Utah Taxpayer

All creditability of these ratings is lost when you include bills like the idiotic "tax me more" bill by Rep. Hughes.

This bill had no hope of breaking even and was a waste of our tax dollars to pay for an optional extra line to be included on the tax return that very few taxpayers would ever use.

This is not how taxes are collected, if Rep. Hughes wanted institute a use tax for public schools then more power to him but he knows that would probably get him fired but would at least make more sense that having an optional line on our tax return that you and him know most people will never use.

Last I checked I thought your organization was looking out for our tax dollars instead of supporting legislators to waste our tax dollars to play petty and stupid political games to feed some ideological agenda against public schools.

Thanks for your kind words.

Hughes' bill is a great idea, even though the original "Tax Me More" title probably wasn't a good idea. If people want to pay more for education, this is an efficient way to do it.

We disagree that few people would have used this option. If properly publicized, those Utahns who tell pollsters that they want more money for education would have had an opportunity to contribute.

Some have argued that people won't donate because they know others may not, but this has never stopped charities from raising hundreds of billions of dollars per year.

It's interesting how people can oppose an opportunity for taxpayers to voluntarily donate more to education on the TC-40 while at the same time they support the idea of a local school district having a foundation, which most Wasatch Front school districts have.

Soliciting voluntary contributions through the TC-40 is better than having each district with their own foundation because soliciting donations at the state level ensures equitable distribution of education dollars.

The negative reaction from the Left is interesting since one of their own, Rep. Karen Morgan, introduced similar legislation (HB276) in 2003. We don't recall any name calling when Morgan ran the bill in 2003.

The major difference between Morgan's bill and Hughes' bill is that Morgan's bill would have generated contributions by having taxpayers claim fewer personal exemptions and Hughes' bill would have just had taxpayers enter an amount.

While the difference is interesting -- Morgan's bill calls attention to the impact of having children on public education finances -- the impact is similar, and the difference does not warrant calling one bill "idiotic" and the other acceptable. Hughes' bill actually allows taxpayers to donate more than Morgan's would have since it's not possible to claim negative exemptions.

I cry bull!!!

The "Tax Me More" bill was snotty and dismissive, plain and simple. It was a political "up yours" and everyone knows it.

But on the bright side you will only have to endure such haranguing for a few more days. Good luck in your new venture. Those fellows built the school I co-founded. We're not going to agree politically but they got that building up in miraculous time.

Take care, fellow Draperite.

Craig Johnson.