Gov. Otter vetoes grocery tax repeal
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BOISE — Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter has vetoed legislation that would have repealed the state’s sales tax on groceries.
The governor said in a letter to Secretary of State Lawerence Denney he vetoed the bill because the costs were simply too high and the “potential for imminent financial need too great for the small amount of tax relief it would provide.”
Otter cited a meeting with Utah lawmakers who recently repealed sales tax on groceries.
RELATED: READ OTTER’S VETO OF THE GROCERY BILL HERE
“The advice from Utah was simple and straightforward: Don’t do it.” Otter said in the letter.
Otter went on to write that everyone uses some sort of government service and everyone eats. The income the state receives from taxing groceries helps balance out other potential budgetary shortfalls.
The grocery tax repeal, or House Bill 67, sailed through in the last few days of the 2017 Legislature.