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Senate advances phased rollback of state food sales tax after extended debate

Utah State Senate · February 16, 1999
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

The Senate advanced a second substitute to SB22 to phase out the state portion of the sales tax on food over three years. Supporters argued it returns money to consumers; opponents warned of fiscal shortfalls and disproportionate benefits. Floor-cited fiscal impacts: ~$89M in year two and ~$140M in year three.

The Utah Senate on Feb. 16 advanced a second substitute to Senate Bill 22 that would phase out the state portion of the sales tax on food over three years. Under the floor substitute described by the sponsor, the first year would provide a $40 per-person credit against state income tax, the second year a $80 per-person credit, and the third year would remove the tax at the cash register.

Sponsor arguments: Senator Waddups (floor sponsor) said the change would put money directly back into citizens' pockets and could spur the state's economy at a time of slowing growth. "This is one step that we can do that with," the sponsor said on the floor,…

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