Chamber Wants Gas Tax and Surplus for Roads, Education, Health-Care and Downtown

None by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) Salt Lake City's business leaders are making an unusual request - more taxes. The city's Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Lane Beattie explains that the business community wants the state to invest in four key areas - health care and education reform, downtown revitalization and road improvements. And, they want lawmakers to enact a new gas tax and use the state's multi-million dollar revenue surplus to fund the initiatives.

Improving the city's roads is necessary to keep pace with the state's rapid growth, Chamber officials contend. And, they say the increasing cost of health-care continues to burden workers and their employers. Also, they say the state's businesses are struggling to find enough educated workers to hire in this time of record-low unemployment. And, investing to make downtown a cultural center for the state would serve as a strong lure for new business development.

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