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House advances sales-tax clarification for food pantries; floor amendment to add computers fails
Summary
House Bill 248 clarifies that perishable and nonperishable food distributed by designated food pantries is exempt from sales tax. A floor amendment by Representative Scott to add computers and laptops to a related sales-tax exemption failed on roll call; the bill passed on final passage.
House Bill 248, offered on the Ways and Means calendar, revises the state sales-tax exemptions to ensure food distributed through designated food pantries — including both perishable and nonperishable items — is explicitly exempt.
Representative Scott offered Amendment 1 to add computers and laptops to a separate list of school-supply sales-tax exemptions within the bill. Scott told the House that she considered computers and laptops to be necessary school supplies and asked the chamber to adopt the change. The Ways and Means chairman opposed the amendment on fiscal grounds, saying the cost was unknown at a time when lawmakers were considering income tax reduction efforts. Representative Scott argued the amendment would give relief to families purchasing computers for students.
The amendment was put to a roll-call. The clerk recorded 37 yeas and 73 nays; the amendment failed. The House then moved to final passage of House Bill 248. The clerk recorded 117 yays, 0 nays; the bill passed on final passage.
Ending: The bill will now proceed per the legislative process for enacted measures; the transcript shows the amendment failed and the underlying bill passed as recorded.
