SALT LAKE CITY — The organizer of the citizens referendum circulating to repeal the new tax reform law just signed by Gov. Gary Herbert said he expects to be ready Monday morning to turn in the first of the nearly 116,000 voter signatures needed to get on the ballot.
“We’ve got more than enough people in our group that are interested in helping,” former Republican state lawmaker Fred Cox said Friday. He said he’s already raised more than $8,700, mostly from $10 contributions, toward the cost of printing petition packets.
“It’s right before Christmas. A number of people don’t have a lot. But they’re still giving.” Cox said, despite their concerns about having to pay increased sales taxes on food, gas and some services starting next April. “You’ve got widows, you’ve got other individuals looking at this and just going, ‘No.’ They’re willing to donate.”
The new tax reform law, passed earlier this month in a special session of the Utah Legislature, also lowers the state income tax rate and provides tax breaks to low- and moderate-income Utahns, including a bigger dependent exemption and a grocery tax credit to offset hiking the state sales tax on food from 1.75% to the full 4.85% rate.
Cox said Utahns are unhappy with rising a food tax, as well as the provision imposing sales taxes on wholesale gasoline purchases on top of what will be a 31-cents-a-gallon gas tax in 2020. expected to add at least 10 cents a gallon at the pump.
“This is a unique opportunity for the public to use their veto pen in pushing back against something that an overwhelming majority of Utahns did not support.” — Salt Lake County Councilwoman Aimee Winder Newton, who announced her bid for governor in October
For voters to have the chance to weigh in on tax reform in November 2020, opponents must gather nearly 116,000 signatures from at least 15 of the state’s 29 counties by Jan. 21, less than a week before the start of the 2020 Legislature. The governor and lawmakers have said the referendum could delay tax cuts and rebate checks.
“We’ll be done and turned in before the session starts,” Cox said, suggesting lawmakers may want to start over on tax reform. “If they want to come up with an idea that doesn’t have most of the state ticked off at them, they’ve got time to do that.”
A news conference has been set for noon Monday at the Capitol to announce new support for the referendum, from several advocacy groups including Utah Legislative Watch, Utah Tax Reform Coalition and United Women’s Forum.
“Immediately after the tax reform bill was passed, we began receiving emails from citizens around the state urging a referendum and asking how they can help,” Utah Legislative Watch Director Brett Hastings said. “It’s clear that thousands of Utah citizens agree that the bill, and the process used to pass it, are unacceptable and bad for Utah.”
The United Utah Party announced Friday it is setting aside its term limits initiative to help gather signatures for the tax reform referendum.
Several GOP candidates for governor are also backing the referendum. Herbert, a Republican who has held the office for more than a decade, is not seeking reelection next year.
“This is a unique opportunity for the public to use their veto pen in pushing back against something that an overwhelming majority of Utahns did not support,” said Salt Lake County Councilwoman Aimee Winder Newton, who announced her bid for governor in October.
She said tax reform “has hit a nerve with the public. When leaders don’t adequately educate the public on the issue, truly listen to concerns, and allow Utahns to help come up with solutions then it’s not surprising to see the public take matters into their own hands.”
Winder Newton and another GOP candidate, businessman Jeff Burningham, are attending Monday’s news conference.
Burningham said in a statement the bill “kicks the can down the road on lasting reform and opens up a new lane for taxation (services). I’m concerned that this will be the tip of the iceberg of more negative government intrusion in Utahns’ lives.”
Another Republican in the race, former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who helped get the sales tax on food reduced as part of a tax-cut package during his time as governor, also backs the referendum but has a scheduling conflict and won’t attend the news conference.
Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, the first Republican to get in the governor’s race earlier this year, issued a statement before the Dec. 12 special legislative session saying he disagreed with Herbert on tax reform, citing restoring the full state sales tax on food as a valid concern.
“Even the best tax policy is doomed to fail if there is no public support,” Spencer Cox said in a statement then. His campaign manager, Austin Cox, said Friday he isn’t able to comment on whether Spencer Cox backs the referendum given that the lieutenant governor’s office is overseeing the referendum process.
Fred Cox said he’s not surprised at the support the referendum is receiving and welcomes the help.
“Anytime you come out against something that the Legislature has passed, it creates a certain amount of risk,” said Cox, who was defeated in his 2016 reelection bid by delegates to the Salt Lake County GOP convention.”We’ve got individuals and groups willing to stand up for what they believe is right.”
Senate Minority Leader Karen Mayne, D-West Valley City, said she, too, is supporting the referendum that’s “brewing in the middle of my Senate district.” Mayne said the repeal effort will still have an impact on lawmakers even if it doesn’t end up on the November 2020 ballot.
“I’ll sign it because obviously I don’t believe in the tax on food. Those are my constituents. They’re who I represent,” she said. “If they can get a ton (of signatures), then that’s a backlash in itself. Even if they don’t rise to the bar, it tells us that people don’t like this. So we’ll see.”