Balking on Eliminating Grocery Tax

We just had an election where candidates for both parties ran on eliminating the state sales tax on groceries. I argued that if Beebe and company won you would never see that money. Candidate Beebe said he would rather "under-promise and over-deliver."

I liked that line. It sounded good and was smart politics. Saying you will "over-deliver" gives hints of a committment without ever actually making one. Now people are waiting on Beebe et al to "over deliver" on the non-committment to "phase out" the grocery tax, "revenues permitting". With over $800 million in surplus, if revenues don't permit now then they never will. The problem is that it seems Beebe is dangerously close to under-delivering even on his under-promising.

As for John Brummett and the rest of the liberal columnists who are now questioning some of Beebe's cozy ties with special intrests and his failure to push harder to repeal the grocery tax I can only say, "Then why did you shill for the guy nonstop the whole campaign? Please don't try and distance yourselves from him now, after you worked tirelessly to get him elected. He is your guy now, whether you like it or not."

State Rep. Benny Petrus, a house leader, says eliminating the grocery tax may not be the best way to help low income Arkansans. He leans more toward income tax relief. Rep. Horace Hardwick has proposed phasing out 4.5 cents of the six cents of the food tax over the next three years, and leaving on 1.5 cents which are "already committed", along with all of the local taxes on groceries. Somehow I don't think that is what the average voter thought they were getting when Governor elect Beebe talked of "phasing out the sales tax on food". In Benton County, sales taxes are nine percent, so even in the unlikely event that all of that "phasing out" actually happens we will still pay half of the sales tax on food items.

While I'd vote for Hardwick's bill if it was the best I could get, Speaker Petrus may have a point. With a surplus this high, they could, if they cared to, give us a tax break equal to eliminating the entire sales tax on food. A handy way to do this would be to give us a per-person exemption on income taxes that is closer to that of the other states. Currently, our personal income tax exemption in this state is among the lowest in the nation (a mere $20 tax credit). Giving us a $1,000 per person exemption would be a good way to get us the rest of that grocery tax money back, and put us more in the middle of the pack as far as having an equitable and family-friendly income tax structure goes.