I am glad that our governor and members of our Legislature are finally, seemingly, looking at ways to increase funding to public education in Utah. I really like the governor’s proposal, but my pessimistic side wonders if his proposal is just political posturing to make it seem like he is willing to fight for public education, when in reality he knows that his proposal will be hammered. If that happens, he will still be portrayed as the good guy. So at a recent meeting at the Capitol I asked a high-ranking official what he felt about the governor’s proposal, and, to my chagrin, he confirmed my pessimistic side.
Rep. Draxler, R-North Logan, has also proposed an income tax hike for public education. Again, it is good that he is willing to even suggest a tax increase. But in his proposal, larger families will pay more income tax than smaller families. And you will notice that corporations are not even on the list of those whose taxes will be increased. If we are going to get sucked into the idea that larger families should pay higher taxes, we need to warn the families before they have children, not add the tax after the children are already born.
Fred Ash
Sandy