Subcommittee votes negatively on bill to exempt WIC-eligible foods from sales tax

Chairman Hensley described Senate Bill 1837, his own bill, which would exempt sales and use tax on foods that are voucher-eligible under the WIC program. "These foods are all healthy food, so this bill would exempt those from the sales tax," Hensley said, and the chair noted an estimated fiscal cost of $164,000,000.

The chair moved the bill; Sen. Tewali moved a reluctant negative recommendation which Sen. Powers seconded. A roll-call vote recorded five ayes and the committee sent SB 1837 to the Finance Committee with a negative recommendation.

The sponsor emphasized the link to WIC-eligible items and framed the proposal as targeted relief for healthy foods, but committee members again pointed to the budgetary consequence as the primary reason for recommending against the bill in this panel.