Lawmakers question ed plan

Rep. Steve Mascaro said he "loved" his fellow Republicans, no matter how they voted on a tax bill he says will benefit public education.

Mascaro, R-West Jordan, made this clear Monday to a caucus of House Republicans after it became clear there was dissent and, for some lawmakers, more questions than answers on HB45.

"We're trying to make this bill fair for everyone," Mascaro said.

The bill that Mascaro and Rep. Patricia Jones, D-Cottonwood, are proposing would mean tax cuts to a family of four with an income under $50,000. But the bill would also come with a tax hike for a larger family with an income above $50,000.

It's a proposal that Mascaro says could generate $46 million for schools. And it's an idea he says is getting a majority of ayes from the public, according to polls he has seen and conducted. A recent Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll found 54 percent support.

Rep. Don Bush, R-Clearfield, asked Mascaro how the public could even understand his bill when it seems clear legislators are having a hard time.

Rep. Loraine Pace, R-Logan, tried to generate support for her own idea to slow down state government involvement in public education.

In a letter last month to all lawmakers, Pace called for a moratorium on all education legislation for at least one year. The mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act, UPASS and last year's overhaul should be plenty to keep teachers busy, she said.

"I'm just saying, could we just take a deep breath here and look at what we're doing," Pace said.

If legislators have a bill they think is "life and death," Pace said, then submit it, otherwise forget it. It would be good public relations for the Legislature and give educators a chance to "catch up," she said. Referring to the federal No Child Left Behind Act, Rep. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, said, "This is life and death."

Dayton wants the Legislature to consider letting Utah opt out of the mandates imposed by NCLB. The big question, for which Dayton has received different answers, is how much in federal funding will Utah lose if it says "no" to NCLB. She already has supporters for her proposal.

"I think we need to do this to send a message," said Rep. David Cox, R-Lehi. And that would be that Utah wants less federal government control in public education.

That message would go out to the entire country and the few states considering similar action. There's also the question of whether the opt-out approach could be taken on an individual district basis.

The controversial tuition tax credits proposal, albeit somewhat altered, surfaced again Monday. Rep. James Ferrin, R-Orem, asked the skeptical crowd to think of his bill as a means to finance enrollment growth of 140,000 over the next decade.

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