Utah lawmakers are meeting today to enact part of Gov. Huntsman's income tax reform, as well as to address transportation.

The governor's tax proposal is a much-needed step. The proposed bill would reduce income taxes $70 million by allowing taxpayers to choose which tax system gives them the better deal: the current income tax system after adjusting tax brackets for inflation or a genuine flat-tax with no deductions.

This session comes at a time when state coffers hold $380 million dollars in surplus money.

With an election just around the corner, it's tempting for legislators to expand Huntsman's proposal beyond what's been budgeted and give people a more generous tax cut.

Don't even think about it.

As Senate President John L. Valentine points out, the surplus funds are one-time money, just like the extra $20 one finds in a pocket while doing the laundry. That is money that cannot be counted on showing up every year, so basing a tax cut on it is a bad idea.

Sure, people would get a bigger reduction in income taxes this year if some or all of the surplus is applied to tax reform, but what happens if the economy doesn't continue to heat up and the same surplus doesn't show up next yearfi Then lawmakers have to consider raising taxes or slashing an already lean state budget, with taxpayers taking it on the chin either way.

The $70 million in Huntsman's plan was already factored into the budget, with the money coming out of ongoing funds.

The tax reform plan, as drafted, will withstand the uncertain winds of the economy better than a tax cut based on budget surpluses.

A special session is not the place to be tinkering with the budget. The sessions are too short for a full, in-depth review of the state's finances. Nor is it smart to fiddle with the budget in the middle of a fiscal year.

Unless there is an emergency, it is best not to alter the state's spending plan until the General Session, when next year's budget is being prepared and tax cuts can be made more carefully.

Legislators will do well to let the budget surplus sit until then and stick with the tax-reform plan as drafted. When they come back in January, they can dedicate the extra one-time money to transportation and education funding, where it belongs.

The state already has two dedicated accounts, and the money would gain interest that can be used to pay for the roads we desperately need and ease the funding crisis in education.

Surpluses should be used for lasting public benefits, not flash-in-the-pan tax cuts.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A6.