By Bethany Rodgers and Benjamin Wood | The Salt Lake Tribune
In a dramatic reversal, Gov. Gary Herbert and the state’s legislative leaders announced Thursday they are repealing the massive and controversial tax reform plan they passed just last month in a special session and have been fiercely defending ever since.
They made the decision to retreat under mounting public pressure — after a bipartisan group declared it had gathered about 152,000 signatures from Utahns in favor of putting the tax legislation on the ballot for potential repeal.
“We decided the best course of action, reflecting the will of the people, is in fact to go back and push the restart button,” Herbert said Thursday.
A new Salt Lake Tribune poll shows that 60% of Utahns opposed the tax reform plan and 25% supported it. Just 15% didn’t have an opinion. The poll, conducted by Suffolk University, surveyed 500 residents from Jan. 18 to Jan. 22. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
