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Show fore ending the fourth week was remove necessity of notarizing state income tax returns this year. When the Senate bill for that purpose reached the lower house, an emergency clause, to make the law effective on approval, ap-proval, was attached. Now all it needs is a signature of the governor gov-ernor to release taxpayers from this little annoyance and fix it up so all that is necessary is to sign the return as the citizen does his federal income tax. O urban classifications on the sub ject. But Seen. A. I. Tippetts (D-Ephraim), (D-Ephraim), chairman of the Senate Sen-ate committee on state and municipal mu-nicipal affairs, which held the bills in the upper house, suddenly sudden-ly asked that the Senate decide whether it wanted to consider them or not. He insisted that feeling on the matter was so far apart and so much emotion had been generated gener-ated over the issue that any a-gieement a-gieement between urban and rural rur-al factions is out of the question. He suggested that rather than "waste" days of debate, the matter mat-ter might well be submitted for legislative council study for two years. This failed to meet the approval appro-val of a majority of the Senate, however, and on vote of 10 to 13, the body decided not to submit sub-mit the question for study, but to debate it on the floor. Senator Sen-ator Tippetts was the only rural senator voting to submit the question. He was joined by urban ur-ban Sens. Broekbank, Cannon, Duv, Jensen and Watson, all of Salt Lake; Fowles and Jenkins, Weber; Thorn and Clegg of Utah county. On the other side, two urban senators, Marthakis and binder (lt& by Harry Marlowe Elggren of Salt Lake, joined rur-1 al Sens. Reese, Box Elder; Muir, Cache; Hopkin of Rich, Summit, Wasatch, Daggett and Morgan; Ashton, Duchesne and Uintah; Paxton, Beaver and Millard; Larsen, Sevier, Garfield, Wayne, Kane and Piute; Beal, Iron and Washington; Adams, Emery, Grand and San Juan; Milliman, Juab and Tooele; Gibson, Carbon; Car-bon; and Burns, Davis. Over in the House, the question ques-tion had not been touched thru the fourth week of the session, and it may not show until after the measures hit the Senate. One thinp that could happen is the eventual presentation of the matter to the legislative coun cil, since a resolution culling for council study of reapportionment was introduced in the Senate as a compromise in case a long debate de-bate produces nothing. It appears that rural lawmakers, lawmak-ers, holding the very slightest, and some times questionable, numerical edge in each house, will not relinquish control of the House oit a population basis with out a more certain edge being i granted in the Senate, such as an equal number of senators in each county or senatorial district. Sen. Alonzo F. Hopkin (D-Woodruff) (D-Woodruff) made this clear when he said during the Tippetts-prumpted Tippetts-prumpted discussion that rural counties "will not stand by and have three counties control the legislature," which would happen hap-pen in the case of Weber, Salt Lake and Utah counties on a reapportionment re-apportionment on a straight pop Whether education or Gov. J. Bracken Lee will have the most to say about taxes in Utah for the next two years has come to the fore as the one big issue fac ing he Twenty-ninth Utah legislature. leg-islature. And with the 60-day session now half over, education, thru its school boards and the legislature, legis-lature, threatens to take the matte! mat-te! of taxes right out of the governor's gov-ernor's hands. In his opening message to the lawmakers, Governor Lee asked that they give first consideration to a reduction of income and sales taxes. Now the schools have come on with a bill endorsed endors-ed by boards of education to raise the classroom unit allowance allow-ance under the uniform school fund from $3300 to $3800, to increase in-crease transportation allowance by $325,000 and to jump maximum maxi-mum districts may tax over and above the minimum for buildings build-ings and operation by 20 per cent, or four mills. This bill went sailing through I the Senate without dissent and without an amendment and is expected to get little more opposition oppo-sition in the House. This would mean that, unless the bill is vetoed ve-toed and the veto sticks, about any chance of income tax reduc-1 tion is out the window, since income taxes form a major por-1 tion of twenty-five per cent of j the uniform school fund. The latter fund would be increased more than $3,000,000 by the class room unit raise. Not more than 75 per cent of the fund can be collected thru property tax, but tax commission officials already predict passage of the bill will raise the property prop-erty tax lew bv nearly four mills ($4 on every $1000 valuation), which winild indicate that every nickle that can be raised by income in-come tax will go into the fund. So perturbed is the governor over the turn of events that he has made up his mind to take the entire problem to the people in a series of radio broadcasts. He'll talk about taxes for schools, his own tax reduction and balanced bal-anced budget program and he'll even go to the citizens over disposal dis-posal of the old state prison grounds. In regard to the latter, he insists all but a 35-acre.plot be sold for private development. The 35 acres, he said, should be sold to the Salt Lake City school district for a new high school site. Bills in the legislature call for retaining the ground other than that proposed for a high school as a state park. Under a 1947 law, it is all reserved at present for state park purposes. Second only to the tax question ques-tion is that of reapportionment of the legislature, something that hasn't been done since 1931. For sometime it appeared the issue might be sidestepped again, despite appearance of a number of billsall in definite rural or uiaiion oasis, lie said rural counties coun-ties were in the "defensive" because be-cause urban areas had "forced the issue." Senator Hopkin then added that "we intend to defend a way of life as dear to us as is the way of city life to the urban legislators." Meanwhile, the legislation pass ed by both houses has been non-conlroversial non-conlroversial and unspectacular. The House, however, did pass a bill to provide a gas tax refund on motor fuel put to non-highway use. This would mean money mo-ney in the pockets of farmers if it passes the Senate and is signed sign-ed by the governor. Proponents said it would take some $500,000 per year from gas tax revenues, which would mean that an increase in-crease in gas taxes would be forthcoming if the highway fund is to be kept Intact. Senators agreed to accept the measure for discussion in a full-scale full-scale consideration of the Utah Legislative Council's highway program, including a raise in gas taxes and an increase in truck licensing fees. One thing the House did be- |