Governor Kristi Noem last week announced her proposal to remove the sales tax from groceries in South Dakota due to inflation.  District 20 Senator Josh Klumb says the proposal was looked at during last year’s legislative session.  “I think it’s an interesting proposal,” Klumb said.  “We had this up last year, and it was killed in the Senate.  The surrounding states we compared it to all have state income taxes, and we don’t have a state income tax.  To fund our different services of government, we depend largely on sales tax.  And to keep the pain from hurting any particular group too much, it’s a good idea to keep that tax base broad.”  Klumb says he has not seen any specific legislation tied to the governor’s proposal.

The governor, during her announcement last week, said it would save South Dakota families around $100 million dollars annually.

District 20 Representative Lance Koth says he is in favor of a tax cut if the numbers work.  Koth says “I can be in favor of trying to lower taxes if we can afford to pay for it recognizing that the sales use and excise taxes represent nearly 74 percent of our total revenue.  So $100 million is a small portion of our state budget.  Look at the numbers, do some deep digging, and see if we can afford it.”

A similar proposal brought by Democratic lawmakers failed in last year’s legislative session.