This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is proving he is tenacious, if nothing else, as he once again tries to work with lawmakers to reform the state's archaic tax code into a simpler, "fairer" system that will make Utah competitive with its Mountain West neighbors.

This, of course, is the same income tax reform effort that collapsed in the House in what some lawmakers describe as a "fiasco" on the last night of the 2006 session. The same reform drive brought further embarrassment to its supporters, and torpedoed a May tax session, with revelations that its cost had been woefully underestimated due to math errors. It's $70 million cost climbed in a blink of the eye to more than $200 million.

Nevertheless, Huntsman and his supporters in the Legislature are pushing a dual-track variation on reform that has been gaining ground among lawmakers. It's probably not a coincidence that all House members and half the senators face re-election and would like to deliver a promised $70 million tax cut before November.

"A lot of members are anxious to keep that promise," Senate President John Valentine said Tuesday.

And the governor is willing to work with them if it means a significant step toward real tax reform, said Huntsman's spokesman, Mike Mower. "If we can find a general consensus among legislators, a special session is something we would consider,"

But don't spend your refund yet.

A special session on taxes would have to clear obstacles, not the least of which is politics. House and Senate Republicans have taken turns claiming leadership in tax reform and shooting down other members' proposals. Huntsman's goal of a 5 percent "flatter" tax, consequently, has morphed dozens of times since it left the Tax Reform Task Force last summer.

The latest two-track concept, to be presented today to the Revenue and Taxation Committee, will include a variation that offers tax filers a choice between the state's existing myriad of deductions and credits - and a pure flat tax of about 5.3 percent.

Tuesday, House and Senate Republican leadership met jointly for a first look at the dual track idea. Senate leadership, which earlier resisted the House-proposed bifurcated system because it would have made it difficult to predict revenues, has warmed to a version that would include a simple flat tax option.

"We are seeing refinement in the idea," Valentine said. "We are seeing something closer to what the Senate could accept."

But now House leadership is balking. Valentine confirmed House leadership was unified in its opposition to a special session before the election.

House Speaker Greg Curtis would not comment on opposition to a pre-election session, saying the House might be open to a special session, if its members and the public were made comfortable with the reform proposal.

"We in House leadership thought it was a little premature to start talking about a special session," Curtis said. "House leadership is not interested in a special session without consensus."

Still the speaker said, "Special sessions are not the time to restructure a tax system that is 25 years old."

That, at least, is something Valentine, who often found himself at odds with Curtis over taxes during the last session, can agree on.

"Something this large is not a very good subject for special session," he said.