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Senate passes substitute bill to cut state income tax by $50 million over two years
Summary
The Senate adopted a substituted version of SB 237, trimming income-tax brackets to produce an estimated $50 million reduction over two years; supporters said the cuts take effect immediately on withholdings and will continue next year, while some members said the reduction could have been larger.
The Utah Senate voted Feb. 26 to pass a substituted version of Senate Bill 237 that reduces state income-tax rates to deliver a $50 million reduction across two years.
Senator Lyle Hilliard, sponsor of the measure, said his original proposal targeted a $75 million cut but that the substitute scales it to $50 million with staged rate reductions. "My original bill, I was targeting a $75,000,000 tax cut," Hilliard said on the floor as he described the new brackets and the phased implementation.
Under the first-substitute text, top and lower brackets are adjusted (the sponsor described consolidated bracket percentages to 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%, 6%, and 7%), and the change is structured so withholdings reflect the lowered rates quickly while fuller reductions take place in the next tax year. Hilliard said the approach aims to make the cut immediate (via withholding changes) and more substantial in calendar 1997.
Lawmakers debating the measure disagreed over size and timing; some said it did not go far enough and called for a larger reduction, while others supported the staged, administrable change. After circling and discussion, the Senate moved under suspension of the rules and approved the substitute; the President announced the vote as 26 aye votes, none opposed, and 3 absent, and the bill was sent to the House for consideration.
The vote followed a committee report and floor amendment process; senators noted this bill’s interaction with companion property-tax measures and broader budget planning for the 1996 legislative cycle.
