No More Poor Among Us
By Senator Brent Hill

Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882)

When Idaho adopted the 3% state sales tax in 1965, it provided for a “grocery tax credit” of $10 per household member to offset some of the sales tax families would be paying on groceries. Since that time, the sales tax rate has increased to 6% and the grocery tax credit has been raised to $20 per person.

The Idaho Legislature recently approved a bill that will again double the grocery tax credit to $40 for every man, woman and child in the state and make it refundable even to people who ordinarily would not file an income tax return.

Still, some people are not happy about this across-the-board tax rebate. They feel that the rebate should be withheld from those “who do not need it” and increased for those with low incomes. But the new legislation has an important provision that, if not overlooked, can provide help for Idaho’s needy citizens. It calls for a check-off provision on Idaho income tax returns that will permit taxpayers to forego their grocery tax credits, thus donating them to the Cooperative Welfare Fund to provide low-income Idahoans with assistance in paying their home energy costs. What a great provision!

Citizens who can afford to do without the $40 per family member can choose to donate their rebates to struggling families. And because the donations will also be tax deductible, the government is actually paying a portion of the contributions through tax savings to the donor.

What a delightful turnaround: you force the government to help those in need instead of it forcing you! By contributing our grocery tax credits, we take personal responsibility to help the poor among us—without the government mandating our charitable intentions. It is a striking transformation from coercion to charity.

Idahoans are a caring and generous people. As a Certified Public Accountant, I plan to ask my clients next year if they are willing to join me in donating our grocery tax credits to families and seniors trying to keep their homes warm in Idaho. Please search your own heart for a way to participate as well. This small act will not eliminate poverty in Idaho, but it is a generous step toward having fewer poor among us.

The law passed by the Idaho legislature is a good law, but it is up to all of us to make it much better.

[This legislation was vetoed by Governor C.L. Butch Otter on March 20, 2007.]