[Vision2020] Legislative Update III from Rep. Trail Jan 14-19

[ttrail at moscow.com]

LEGISLATIVE NEWSLETTER III --JANUARY 14-19,2008
 
Constituents:
 
I'd like to talk a bit about a single issue in this newsletter.   This
issue is the Grocery Tax Credit.   A number of proposals surfaced last year
in the Legislature.  The majority of Legislators appeared to support some
approach to reducing the sales tax on groceries but all of the measures
failed.   There appears to be renewed efforts to pass legislation this
session to phase out the sales tax on groceries.
 
Idaho's current Grocery Tax Credit provides a uniform credit of $20 per
person for eligible non-elderly individuals, which represents the tax
burden on $333 of food for one year.  Raising the credit amount to $90 per
non-elderly family member and making it available to lower income
households, would come close to offsetting the impact of the grocery tax on
low income families.   This projected cost would be about $29 million/year.
 This was close to the Governor's proposal last session.
 
Unfortunately, some of the lowest income Idahoans do not benefit from the
current grocery tax credit.   Idaho residents who are not elderly and not
legally required to file a tax return are not eligible for the Grocery Tax
Credit, even if they file a return.  For a married coup0le in 2007, the
income at which they would be required to file is $17,500; those whose income
fell under this level would not qualify.
 
The vast majority of families on food stamps do pay the sales tax on
groceries, but a family who purchases food with its own income is not
eligible if it receives any food stamp benefit.  At least 70% of Idaho food
stamp recipeint, as well as many of the remaining 30%, need to supplement
their food stamps with cash purchases of food to have a basic nutritious
diet; these purchases are subject to the sales tax.   I will be supporting
legislation that allows all low income Idahoans to claim their Grocery Tax
Credit.   There will be much more' debate on this issue coming up in the
following weeks.
 
It appears that we may be headed into an economic downturn or even a mild
recession. I think this is a good time to remind all of some of the
realities of poverty in the eleven Northern Idaho Counties (data source,
U.S. Census, Idaho Kids County Report, and the 2006 Idaho Job Gap Report).
 
  1.  41,136 people live in poverty
  2.  19 out of every 100 children live in poverty
  3.  Idaho has the highest percentage (29%) of young adults, ages 18-24,
living in poverty of any state in the U.S.
  4.  63% of Idaho 3 and 4 year olds do not attend a preschool program due
to the lack of availability and affordability, leaving them unprepared to
enter kindergarten.
  5.  Low-income parents make kup almost half of Idaho's working
population.  The parents in these families work for low wages, often
without the ability to afford health insurance, quality child care and
early education.
  6.  In Idaho, a living wage for a family of 3 (single parent/two
children) is $22.23/hour.  Only 14% of current jobs in Idaho pay this wage.
 A living wage for a family of 4 (2 parents/2 children-1 parent working is
$20.98 per hour (due to the Earned Income Credit Program, the living wage
for a family of four is slightly less than that of the family of 3).  Only
17% of current jobs in Idaho pay this wage.
 
There are also some interesting relationships regarding poverty in Idaho. 
These are:
 
  1.  Drug arrests are up 144% since 1990.
  2.  The suicide rate is 22 people per 100,000, compared to the national
suicide rate of 11 people per 100,000.
  3.  By 2025, 20% of Idaho's population will be over age 65 and Idaho will
have the greatest number of people over age 85 per capita than any other state.
  4.  Many of Idaho's elders face isolation due to lack of mobility,
relationships and adequate resources.
 
Many state and private agencies are working with Idaho citizens in poverty
to assist them to meet of challenges of day to day survival.   A number of
legislative initiatives including the Grocery Tax Credit are being proposed.
 
That is all for this week.   Please send me your comments, recommendations,
etc. to
ttrail at house.idaho.gov to my office in Boise.   My phone is 208-332-1184
 
Representative
 Tom Trail


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