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Policy

Feds nix sharing of data, create another reason to ditch grocery tax

By Wayne Hoffman, IFF’s former President
August 11, 2017
We have yet another reason why state lawmakers should repeal the grocery tax this winter: State tax auditors have no real way to know whether the people who claim the grocery tax credit on their tax returns are eligible for it. Turns out, the grocery-tax credit fraud that was supposedly stamped out a couple of […]
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Hoffman: Conservatives remain committed to grocery tax repeal

By Wayne Hoffman, IFF’s former President
July 19, 2017
On Tuesday, Idaho Freedom Foundation President Wayne Hoffman responded to the Idaho Supreme Court’s 4-1 ruling that upheld Gov. Butch Otter’s veto of a bill to repeal Idaho’s burdensome grocery tax. Hoffman pledged: “We know that repealing the grocery tax has broad appeal, and we know that our continued work on this issue will, eventually, […]
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Erpelding took the low road in grocery tax repeal column

By Fred Birnbaum
May 8, 2017
Rep. Mat Erpelding blew his chance to write a bipartisan opinion piece on Gov. Butch Otter’s recent veto of the bill to remove the sales tax on groceries. Though more than 70 percent of the Legislature — Republicans and Democrats — supported the bill, you would not know that from reading Erpelding’s opinion piece. Erpelding […]
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Grocery tax lawsuit should prevail

By Wayne Hoffman, IFF’s former President
April 28, 2017
Judges make losers out of half the lawyers who argue in front of them, and many of those losers walk away thinking the outcome was wrong. So it is hard to predict with certainty how the Idaho Supreme Court will view a lawsuit aimed at allowing the grocery-tax repeal bill to become law despite the […]
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Ask Otter to repeal the grocery tax

By Wayne Hoffman, IFF’s former President
March 31, 2017
Special note: Use this to easily send Gov. Otter an email asking him to repeal the grocery tax:  Hear Me, Idaho Action Page Gov. Butch Otter will decide over the next several days whether to repeal Idaho’s sales tax on groceries, and it’s important for Idahoans to ask him to repeal it. Otter’s decision will […]
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Grocery tax repeal gains major allies

By Idaho Freedom Foundation staff
February 7, 2017
The idea of repealing Idaho’s tax on groceries gained a number of vocal allies this past week, including two Idaho newspapers. The Twin Falls Times-News, Coeur d’Alene Press and the Idaho Organization of Resource Councils all endorsed an end to Idaho’s six percent tax on groceries. All three spoke out as House members considered -- […]
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Let’s debate the sales tax on groceries

By Wayne Hoffman, IFF’s former President
January 27, 2017
Of all the public policies that enjoy wide support at the Idaho Statehouse, one idea has received consistent bipartisan love through the years: a plan to eliminate the sales tax on groceries. Since 1965, when the state’s sales tax was first implemented, at three percent, the state has taxed food purchased at the grocery store. […]
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Return budget surplus to Idaho families

By Fred Birnbaum
January 23, 2017
The state fiscal year (SFY) 2018 budget, recently presented to the Legislature by Gov. Butch Otter, is unfair to Idaho families. Otter’s budget starts from the premise that the current budget surplus belongs to special interests and state agencies. The message Idahoans should send to legislators: The surplus belongs to us; restrain Otter’s spending ambitions […]
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Idaho’s grocery tax emerges as key issue in 2016 elections

By Wayne Hoffman, IFF’s former President
April 29, 2016
My 15-year-old son, Julian, on his way Thursday to a school event in Reno, sent this unexpected text message, “Why is there no tax on food at this gas station just across the border into Nevada?” Long-time readers will know the answer to this and the reason for my son’s confusion. Idaho is one of […]
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Idaho House bans powdered alcohol

By Dustin Hurst
February 28, 2016
Though it’s not even available in the state at this point, the Idaho House voted Friday to ban powdered alcohol anyway. Rep. Lynn Luker, R-Boise, addressed the ban bill on the House floor and told his colleagues the substance could pose a threat to minors. He also said some public officials worry the substance could […]
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Bell, Gibbs coordinated protest vote against tax relief

By Dustin Hurst
February 8, 2016
The two leaders of the of the House budget-writing committee coordinated to send a message to their colleagues last week. House Appropriations Chair Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, told IdahoReporter.com Monday she and the panel’s vice chair, Rep. Marc Gibbs, R-Grace, voted against a $28 million tax cut bill in protest. “It was about what we know […]
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House passes small tax cut, but Siddoway remains uncommitted to tax relief

By Dustin Hurst
February 4, 2016
The Idaho House of Representatives passed a $28 million tax cut and increased the grocery-tax credit Wednesday, but the plan might meet a roadblock in the Idaho Senate. The plan, sponsored by House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, cuts taxes slightly on workers who earn more than $7,260 a year, giving them $22.8 million in […]
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