Is Governor Kristi Noem facing defeat at polls in November? A pitch this week for ending the South Dakota sales tax on groceries suggests she's picking up an idea her Democratic opponent supported in the last session.
At Dakota Free Press, Cory Allen Heidelberger asks the question in Democrats Persuade Noem to Promise Food Tax Repeal—Smith Winning?.
In the Dakota Standard, John Tsitrian writes in Democrats Persuade Noem to Promise Food Tax Repeal—Smith Winning?:
Yesterday in Rapid City Gov. Kristi Noem said she’ll work to repeal South Dakota’s sales tax on groceries. Has she suddenly seen the light on this long-standing pillar of unfair taxation, which lays a disproportionally heavier burden on people in lower income brackets than it does on those with more money to spend?
I doubt it. Based on her long-standing opposition to sales tax reductions, this is a political epiphany, not a personal one. Most likely, it’s a reaction to what must be looking like a serious challenge from her opponent, Democrat Jamie Smith, as November draws near.
Up to now, Noem has been opposed to reductions in state sales taxes, so this hypocritical flip-flop is a concession to the realities of campaign politics.
Just last February, when South Dakota’s House of Representatives passed a reduction - not a repeal, mind you, just a slight half-point reduction spread out over two years - in state sales taxes, Noem quickly threw cold water on the idea, saying, “we’ve done a fantastic job growing and benefiting the families and businesses here in our state right now. But we also have some challenges ahead.”
The proposed change failed to clear the Senate. . . .
Reporting for the Argus Leader, Annie Todd has this in What you need to know about Gov. Kristi Noem's proposed sales tax cut on groceries:
Gov. Kristi Noem announced Wednesday she's proposing a permanent tax cut on the sales tax for groceries.
Noem said if reelected governor in November, this would be a major policy proposal during her budget address in December.
South Dakota is one of only three states that continues to apply the full sales tax rate on citizens at the grocery store on food purchases. But this isn't the first time the tax on food has been in the spotlight for the state. During the 2022 legislative session, lawmakers proposed two bills targeted toward cutting taxes, and one of those bills specifically targeted the grocery tax. . . .
South Dakota lawmakers have tried cutting grocery sales tax before
South Dakotan lawmakers across both parties have sought to do something about the regressive sales tax on groceries for years.
It's considered a regressive tax because low-income families and individuals tend to pay a higher share of their income in taxes, according to the South Dakota Budget and Policy Project.
While South Dakota, Mississippi and Alabama to apply the full sales tax rate to groceries, there are 13 states that tax groceries at various rates.
Most recently, during the 2022 legislative session, Sen. Reynold Nesiba (D-Sioux Falls) introduced legislation that would eliminate the sales tax on food, something he's been working on for the past decade. Ultimately, the bill was voted down. . . .
Noem has to be reelected in November for her tax cut proposal to make it into her budget address. She faces Democratic state Rep. Jamie Smith, who was part of a group of lawmakers in the winter who supported the elimination of the sales tax on food.
Lawmakers in Pierre then have to write the language for the tax cuts and vote on it.
The election is Nov. 8. Smith has called Noem's move politically motivated.
"I think our governor's afraid of losing an election and she's going to do anything she can to ensure that election, and one of the things was going back on something she hasn't supported in the past," Smith said over the phone Wednesday.
Hard to argue with that. I'd welcome the elimination of the food sales tax. In the local shopper, a grocery store in Ortonville advertises the lack of sales tax on food over in Minnesota.
Photo: Noem's announcement was made during a stop shown above in an image from South Dakota Public Broadcasting. Via The South Dakota Standard.
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