HB 1214: Lower SD Food Tax During Good Economic Times

House Bill 1214 is the latest attempt to cut South Dakota's arguably immoral tax on food. It is also the most meager. The bill, sponsored by the surely well-intentioned Rep. Hal Wick (R-12/Sioux Falls), would reduce the state sales tax rate on food by a half percent, to 3.5%. On a $100 grocery bill, the consumer saves fifty cents. On an annual grocery budget of $5000, the consumer saves $25.

But those savings don't happen every year. They happen only during years when consumers need that small help the least. HB 1214 keys that tax rate to the amount of revenue the state takes in. Only if sales tax revenues are at least six percent higher than the previous fiscal year does the 3.5% rate kick in. If revenues grow less than that, folks still pay 4% on their food.

HB 1214 says that you get a break on your food tax only when the economy is really good. If the economy is puttering along at normal healthy rates or if it's going in the tank, the state will charge you more for your chow.

I'm not sure whose pocketbook Rep. Wick is thinking, but it evidently isn't the pocketbook of poor folks trying to put food on the table in tough economic times.