From grocery stores to candy stores and going door to door citizens are gathering signatures to demand they be given the choice to vote on one of the largest tax bills passed in Utah. Over 18,000 strong, with more joining the force every day, Utah citizens from every political party have united to try and defeat the recently passed SB2001, a large tax bill affecting every household in Utah.
In a special session in December Utah legislators passed what they are touting as a large tax cut.
At a glance this seems like it would be good for Utah citizens, cutting the rate of income tax would leave more money in peoples wallets. Especially if you consider the how taxes have continually risen over the last ten years. Utah citizens are looking deeper than the political rhetoric and they don't like what they have found in this 200 page bill, that legislators received the final draft of a mere 48 hours before signing. The bill changes not only where the tax dollar is coming from but also how the state is allowed to spend it.
Citizens in every political party have reason to dislike this bill; one serious concern is the food tax more than doubling, another is the 10 cent tax levied at the wholesale level on diesel, or the new taxes being levied on many services. Others dislike the fact that it reduces income tax, effectively taking money out of the coffer for education, which many speculate will cause property taxes to rise to make up the shortfall created.
While it is true a small percentage of people will benefit from the income tax cuts and the tax credits being offered, everyone will be paying more for food, gas and a very long list of services. Nearly all involved in the movement agree that the additional taxes on food and gas will hurt middle and lower class families the most. As a nation we have seen when the gas prices rise so do the cost of all the goods being transported and what this equals is less money in your pocket.
In response to this, everyday citizens have banded together and donated more than $20,000 to print packets to gather 116,000 signatures to put this bill on hold and place it on the ballot for November. Everyone involved in gathering signatures is an unpaid volunteer working against a system that makes it nearly impossible to get a referendum passed(restrictive time frames, verification of signatures, rules for printing the packets for signatures,etc..)
One question being asked of legislators is if this bill is so good for Utah families why not put it up for a vote? Why the need to rush it through in a special session during the holiday season? Also why fight the referendum when all the referendum does is place the bill on hold to be voted on by the very people affected by it?
Opponents of SB2001 are asking every day citizens to band together and sign the referendum to gather enough signatures to force legislators to listen to the people they were elected to serve. You can join on facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/581838375980007/ or simply find one of many locations to add your signature. You must be a registered Utah voter and bringing a photo ID is encouraged as the State is looking for every reason to disqualify signatures. The referendum has until January 20th to gather the needed signatures. To find out where to sign visit https://utah2019tax.com/sign
To see the States summary of the bill you can visit- please make sure to read the last page of the bill. https://le.utah.gov/interim/2019/pdf/2019s2SB2001sub4.pdf
please make sure to read the last page of the bill.
Here is a quick summary, not including all the new service taxes:
Old Income Tax Rate 4.95%
New Income Tax Rate 4.66%
Old Food Tax Rate 1.75%
New Food Tax Rate 4.85%
Old Gas Sales Tax 10%
New Gas Tax 14%
