Date of Award

4-15-1971

Degree Type

Thesis

Department

Political Science

Abstract

The 39th Legislature was faced with a well-organized lobby promoting the adoption of an increase in the sales tax to help the cities of the State of Utah meet their increasing financial plight, particularly in financing the needs of law enforcement. This paper will outline, from an observer's viewpoint, the background of this movement; its initial approaches; its later attempts; and finally its failure.

This is an examination of one particular issue which contains several elements which have continuing significance. 1)The move to adopt the 1/2% sales tax was well-publicized and was quite visible to the public. 2)It had widespread significance because of its connection with the well-known problems of the cities. 3)It involved several different interest groups in pursuit of a common solution. 4)It provided a situation in which the activities of the various lobbyists were rather obvious. Most of these elements do not lend themselves to final conclusions and so they are merely discussed. However, one which is a little easier to evaluate is the effectiveness of the lobbying. Certain conclusion about this will be drawn.

One final explanation should be made. I was involved in the 39th Legislature as a legislative assistant to the President of the Senate. Although an effort was made to maintain objectivity, certain biases may make themselves apparent to the reader. Hopefully, these biases will not be significant enough to destroy the validity of this approach.

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