"Heat and eat" bill dies
-
Feb 21, 2006 Posted by Bill Luckett
I guess this will qualify as the first slightly depressing post I've made this session (which is slightly odd). Today, Rep. Ann Robinson's "heat and eat" bill, as several people around the Capitol Building were calling it, died on a 5-4 committee vote. This was House Bill 117, which would have eliminated the sales tax on groceries permanently and would have suspended the sales tax on home utility bills for two years. Both Democrats on the House Revenue Committee, Reps. Mary Meyer Gilmore of Casper and John Hastert of Green River, voted for the bill, but only two of the panel's seven Republicans joined them. I don't know right off hand if there's another bill this session to drop the sales tax on home heating bills, but I'm pretty sure this was the only chance lawmakers will get this year to remove the sales tax from food. And, as they do every year, they decided against it.
Wyoming is one of only about 12 states that tax groceries. For years, Democrats have fought in vain to remove this tax, which would help the neediest people the most on a basic necessity of life: food. Robinson, D-Casper, became so frustrated last year when a similar bill was killed by a procedural maneuver that she launched a petition drive to collect signatures to get the issue on a statewide election ballot and let the people decide on it. The Wyoming Democratic Party supports her effort, but volunteers did not get enough signatures collected this past year to get the issue on the November 2006 ballot. It might make it in 2008. We'll see.
I did not listen to the entire discussion of HB 117 before the committee killed it, so I can't tell you what was on the minds of everyone who voted against it. It seems like this time of massive budget surplus would be a good time to add a little progressivity to the tax code and give the people a little money back where it would help those who need it the most, especially for a basic human necessity. I also understand that good people can have honest disagreements on this issue. Gov. Freudenthal has said he would support the idea of removing the sales tax from groceries, but he's not wildly enthusiastic about it, and he makes a good point. He says there isn't a groundswell of public demand to remove the tax. Although most people support the idea, they are not very passionate about it. People are more concerned about finding affordable health care and other issues that are more pressing in their daily lives. So perhaps, rather than returning $35 million or $50 million a year (I don't have the exact figure) to people as an across-the-board tax cut, legislators and the governor would be better off spending that money in a targeted way to help people who most need it in a manner that would improve their lives more than receiving $4 to $6 off every $100 worth of groceries.
Anyway, the reason I said earlier that it's slightly odd that this if only the first depressing post I have made is because, frankly, to follow the Legislature is to set oneself up for a series of joys as well as a series of heartbreaks. This is true for every lobbyist or anyone else who feels strongly about a bunch of legislation. You're going to win some and you're going to lose some, no matter who you are. And the more bills you care about, statistically speaking, the more times you're going to get disappointed. Maybe I should consider myself lucky that we got almost a week and a half into the session before I saw something that really bummed me out. Rep. Robinson has been in the Legislature long enough to understand this phenomenon. After the Revenue Committee killed her bill, I walked up to her, and she said something like, "I guess they just don't listen to the people, do they?" Displeased as she was, she still had a smile on her face, and a TV reporter told me that Robinson didn't appear to be too upset during an interview later in the day.
Meanwhile, the House Revenue Committee gave its blessing to four other bills that would involve tax refunds to people or providing emergency energy assistance. The committee did not approve a proposed homeowners' tax credit, however, in part because the bill wouldn't really help those who most need it, including the 27 percent of the people in this state who rent instead of own their homes.
Tomorrow, that same committee is scheduled to work on four bills that would increase the amount of state revenue that flows to cities, towns and counties.
-
Re: "Heat and eat" bill dies
Feb 22, 2006 | Jimmy Porter | jporter@dteworld.comHere is what Rep David Miller, R-Riverton davidmiller@Wyoming.com had to say: Jimmy, I ran a number of bills that would have done far more for all people of Wyoming. One was HB-172 that would permanently remove 1% of the 4% on everything. I also had a constitutional amendment that would have allowed distribution of excess funds directly to all citizens of Wyoming. Not just the ones down here that know how to play the game. Check out HB-55, that Bill did pass, it does give food and heating bill relief to those that are needy. This is allowed by our constitution. I just heard we still have bills alive that will provide a total of over 4,000 in credits and relief to those that fall in the lower range of the income scale. Best regards and thanks for the email. David