But probably the most apt description for the bill being introduced - for the third time - in the 2005 Legislature is a tax-fairness bill.

To their credit, the determined team of Reps. Pat Jones, D-Holladay, and Steve Mascaro, R-West Jordan, have revived their sensible tax-reform plan to eliminate the income-tax subsidy for large families, despite its defeat at the hands of a politically motivated House Revenue and Taxation Committee that kept it from being debated by the full House in this election year.

Polls indicate more than half of Utahns favor this kind of tax reform. More than 145,000 new students will enter already-crowded classrooms in the coming decade, and this is the only reasonable plan to help pay for their education.

The co-sponsors have been buoyed by talks with economists and business leaders who rightly support it, at least privately, as the only feasible proposal to raise substantial funding for Utah's education system, which now spends the least per pupil of any state in the nation.

But it is solidly opposed by Republican legislators representing the wealthiest Utahns, those making $325,000 ($27,000 per month) or more, who would see their income-tax bill rise by about $30 per month per child. What a narrow view.

The Jones-Mascaro plan would bring needed equity to the income-tax system by gradually eliminating personal exemptions beyond two per household, expanding tax brackets and indexing them for inflation, and repealing the state income-tax deduction of half the federal taxes paid.

Only taxes paid by wealthy Utahns and those with large families would increase. When tax-bracket adjustments are figured in, the income-tax bill for a family of four with a $45,000 annual income - the average Utah family - would be $29 less under the Jones-Mascaro plan. Some 400,000 households would see a tax decrease, and an earned income tax credit would help middle- and lower-income families.

A companion bill would distribute nearly $90 million raised by the tax reforms to individual schools under the Interventions for Student Success Block Grant for early-intervention programs such as tutors or remedial aid to help students learn basic academic skills. School boards could tailor programs to meet local needs.

Additionally, this year's version stipulates that, five years after the bill's enactment, its effects on taxpayers and schools would be evaluated by the state Tax Review Commission and reported to legislators and the public.

The plan is a bold, well-researched and well-reasoned way to fund education. But, above all, it is fair. And it deserves a fair hearing.