Move to eliminate the sales tax on food killed in South Dakota Senate

A move to eliminate the sales tax on food is quickly killed in the South Dakota Senate.

A bill dealing with Secretary of State’s fees had been completely changed in the House to do away with the sales tax on food.

The measure passed in the House on 47-22 vote and moved over to the Senate.

Senator Lee Schoenbeck of Watertown resisted a motion to send it to conference committee.  He said the “bill has been debated for decades and lost every time.” Schoenbeck said they have a lot of work to do and this bill does not warrant any additional time.

Schoenbeck’s motion to not go along with the changes and not form a conference committee passed 22-nine, effectively killing the bill.  District 7 Senator V.J. Smith voted for that motion.

On the House side, District 7 Representatives Tim Reed and Larry Tidemann voted against the amendment eliminating the sales tax on food.

March 9, 2022