Utah taxpayers will have another charitable tax checkoff next year. The Senate put its stamp of approval on a measure that allows for taxpayers to designate a portion of their refund to organ transplants for children.
"We spend millions to make sure no child dies in an accident, yet we're letting children die through lack of money," said Marcia Fullmer, a sixth grade teacher at Crescent Elementary. Crescent Elementary students helped draft HB13 and lobbied for its passage.The organ transplant checkoff will be the fifth such checkoff on Utah tax forms. Currently, there are checkoffs for wildlife, the homeless, public education and higher education.
Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, was critical of yet another checkoff because history shows that the total amount contributed by Utahns stays the same, but with more checkoffs is spread across a wider base.