<DIV>If me and Bill London agree, it must be right. : )</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Eliminate the grocery tax. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Best,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Donovan<BR><BR><B><I>Bill London <london@moscow.com></I></B> wrote:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">Tom-<BR>Again, thanks for writing to V2020 with these issues.<BR>Regarding the grocery tax credit issue, it seems to me that the easiest <BR>remedy and the fairest would be to eliminate sales tax on all groceries. <BR>Other states use that remedy. That simplifies the solution.<BR>BL<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>----- Original Message ----- <BR>From: <TTRAIL@MOSCOW.COM><BR>To: <VISION2020@MOSCOW.COM><BR>Sent: Saturday, January 19, 2008 3:24 PM<BR>Subject: [Vision2020] Legislative Update III from Rep. Trail Jan 14-19<BR><BR><BR>> LEGISLATIVE NEWSLETTER III --JANUARY 14-19,2008<BR>><BR>>
Constituents:<BR>><BR>> I'd like to talk a bit about a single issue in this newsletter. This<BR>> issue is the Grocery Tax Credit. A number of proposals surfaced last <BR>> year<BR>> in the Legislature. The majority of Legislators appeared to support some<BR>> approach to reducing the sales tax on groceries but all of the measures<BR>> failed. There appears to be renewed efforts to pass legislation this<BR>> session to phase out the sales tax on groceries.<BR>><BR>> Idaho's current Grocery Tax Credit provides a uniform credit of $20 per<BR>> person for eligible non-elderly individuals, which represents the tax<BR>> burden on $333 of food for one year. Raising the credit amount to $90 per<BR>> non-elderly family member and making it available to lower income<BR>> households, would come close to offsetting the impact of the grocery tax <BR>> on<BR>> low income families. This projected cost would be about $29 <BR>>
million/year.<BR>> This was close to the Governor's proposal last session.<BR>><BR>> Unfortunately, some of the lowest income Idahoans do not benefit from the<BR>> current grocery tax credit. Idaho residents who are not elderly and not<BR>> legally required to file a tax return are not eligible for the Grocery Tax<BR>> Credit, even if they file a return. For a married coup0le in 2007, the<BR>> income at which they would be required to file is $17,500; those whose <BR>> income<BR>> fell under this level would not qualify.<BR>><BR>> The vast majority of families on food stamps do pay the sales tax on<BR>> groceries, but a family who purchases food with its own income is not<BR>> eligible if it receives any food stamp benefit. At least 70% of Idaho <BR>> food<BR>> stamp recipeint, as well as many of the remaining 30%, need to supplement<BR>> their food stamps with cash purchases of food to have a basic nutritious<BR>> diet;
these purchases are subject to the sales tax. I will be supporting<BR>> legislation that allows all low income Idahoans to claim their Grocery Tax<BR>> Credit. There will be much more' debate on this issue coming up in the<BR>> following weeks.<BR>><BR>> It appears that we may be headed into an economic downturn or even a mild<BR>> recession. I think this is a good time to remind all of some of the<BR>> realities of poverty in the eleven Northern Idaho Counties (data source,<BR>> U.S. Census, Idaho Kids County Report, and the 2006 Idaho Job Gap Report).<BR>><BR>> 1. 41,136 people live in poverty<BR>> 2. 19 out of every 100 children live in poverty<BR>> 3. Idaho has the highest percentage (29%) of young adults, ages 18-24,<BR>> living in poverty of any state in the U.S.<BR>> 4. 63% of Idaho 3 and 4 year olds do not attend a preschool program due<BR>> to the lack of availability and affordability, leaving them unprepared
to<BR>> enter kindergarten.<BR>> 5. Low-income parents make kup almost half of Idaho's working<BR>> population. The parents in these families work for low wages, often<BR>> without the ability to afford health insurance, quality child care and<BR>> early education.<BR>> 6. In Idaho, a living wage for a family of 3 (single parent/two<BR>> children) is $22.23/hour. Only 14% of current jobs in Idaho pay this <BR>> wage.<BR>> A living wage for a family of 4 (2 parents/2 children-1 parent working is<BR>> $20.98 per hour (due to the Earned Income Credit Program, the living wage<BR>> for a family of four is slightly less than that of the family of 3). Only<BR>> 17% of current jobs in Idaho pay this wage.<BR>><BR>> There are also some interesting relationships regarding poverty in Idaho.<BR>> These are:<BR>><BR>> 1. Drug arrests are up 144% since 1990.<BR>> 2. The suicide rate is 22 people per 100,000, compared to the
national<BR>> suicide rate of 11 people per 100,000.<BR>> 3. By 2025, 20% of Idaho's population will be over age 65 and Idaho will<BR>> have the greatest number of people over age 85 per capita than any other <BR>> state.<BR>> 4. Many of Idaho's elders face isolation due to lack of mobility,<BR>> relationships and adequate resources.<BR>><BR>> Many state and private agencies are working with Idaho citizens in poverty<BR>> to assist them to meet of challenges of day to day survival. A number of<BR>> legislative initiatives including the Grocery Tax Credit are being <BR>> proposed.<BR>><BR>> That is all for this week. Please send me your comments, <BR>> recommendations,<BR>> etc. to<BR>> ttrail@house.idaho.gov to my office in Boise. My phone is 208-332-1184<BR>><BR>> Representative<BR>> Tom Trail<BR>><BR>><BR>> ---------------------------------------------<BR>> This message was sent by First Step
Internet.<BR>> http://www.fsr.com/<BR>><BR>><BR>> =======================================================<BR>> List services made available by First Step Internet,<BR>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<BR>> http://www.fsr.net<BR>> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>> =======================================================<BR>><BR>> <BR><BR><BR>=======================================================<BR>List services made available by First Step Internet, <BR>serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <BR>http://www.fsr.net <BR>mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>=======================================================<BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><p> 
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