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2006 Budget Session
Statewide sales tax in Wyoming is four cents per dollar. Counties have the option of adding up to two additional cents per dollar, so sales tax in some Wyoming communities goes up to six cents per dollar.
HB 117 would have permanently exempted food for home consumption from paying sales tax in Wyoming. The bill also would have exempted gas, electricity or heat for domestic use from paying sales tax for two years.
HB 117 would have appropriated $67 million from the general fund to supplement revenue for local governments for the next two years, to make up for the revenue they would lose by not taxing food and home utilities.
After a similar bill failed in the 2005 legislative session, Representative Ann Robinson (D-H58, Casper), who was the lead sponsor of HB 117, launched a citizen's initiative petition drive to put the idea before Wyoming voters in a general election. Before the vote for introduction on HB 117, she displayed petitions with signatures of 19,000 Wyoming voters who support taking the tax off groceries.
Supporters of HB 117 argued that sales tax is a regressive form of taxation, especially when food and home heating and lighting are included, as they currently are in Wyoming. When basic living necessities are taxed, low-income families are hit the hardest. They have no choice about buying these items, and they end up paying a higher proportion of their income on taxes than do families with more money.
Opponents may have preferred other tax reduction options before the 2006 Legislature, or may have opposed sales tax reductions for citizens in general.
The House Revenue Committee defeated HB 117, 5-4. Representatives Pete Anderson (R-H10, Pine Bluffs), Kurt Bucholz (R-H47, Saratoga), Gerald Gay (R-H36, Casper), David Miller (R-H55, Riverton) and Bryan Pedersen (R-H9, Cheyenne) cast the NO votes to defeat the bill.
The day after the bill was defeated in the House Revenue Committee, Representative Ann Robinson (D-H58, Casper), the bill's lead sponsor, took the unusual (but permitted under House rules) step of offering a motion on the floor of the House to recall the bill from committee. The motion to recall, which would have brought the bill to the floor of the House for debate and votes in spite of the committee defeat, was defeated on a 25-33 vote (with 2 excused).
The votes listed below are the House floor vote on the motion to recall HB 117 from committee. A YES vote means the representative wanted the full House to consider HB 117 even though the Revenue Committee had defeated the bill. A NO vote means the representative did not want the full House to consider HB 117.
| Bighorn Basin Legislators | House Recall 2/23/06 |
|
| S 18 | Hank Coe (R) | |
| H 24 | Colin Simpson (R) | No |
| H 50 | Pat Childers (R) | No |
| S 19 | Laness D. Northrup (R) | |
| H 25 | Alan Jones (R) | No |
| H 26 | Elaine Harvey (R) | No |
| S 20 | Gerald E. Geis (R) | |
| H 27 | Debbie Hammons (D) | Yes |
| H 28 | Lorraine Quarberg (R) | No |
| Casper-Area Legislators | House Recall 2/23/06 |
|
| S 27 | John Barrasso (R) | |
| H 35 | Roy Cohee (R) | No |
| H 36 | Gerald Gay (R) | No |
| S 28 | Kit Jennings (R) | |
| H 56 | Tom Walsh (R) | Yes |
| H 57 | Thomas A. Lockhart (R) | Excused |
| S 29 | Bill Hawks (R) | |
| H 37 | Steve Harshman (R) | Yes |
| H 59 | Mary Gilmore (D) | Yes |
| S 30 | Charles K. Scott (R) | |
| H 38 | Bob Brechtel (R) | Yes |
| H 58 | Ann Robinson (D) | Yes |
| Cheyenne-Area Legislators | House Recall 2/23/06 |
|
| S 4 | Tony Ross (R) | |
| H 7 | Doug Samuelson (R) | Yes |
| H 41 | Becket Hinckley (R) | Excused |
| S 5 | John Hanes (R) | |
| H 8 | Larry Meuli (R) | No |
| H 42 | Pete Illoway (R) | Yes |
| S 6 | Wayne H. Johnson (R) | |
| H 9 | Bryan Pedersen (R) | No |
| H 10 | Rodney "Pete" Anderson (R) | No |
| S 7 | Kathryn Sessions (D) | |
| H 11 | Wayne Reese (D) | Yes |
| H 43 | Dan Zwonitzer (R) | Yes |
| S 8 | E. Jayne Mockler (D) | |
| H 12 | Layton Morgan (D) | Yes |
| H 44 | Floyd Esquibel (D) | Yes |
| Gillette-Area Legislators | House Recall 2/23/06 |
|
| S 23 | John Hines (R) | |
| H 31 | Thomas E. Lubnau II (R) | No |
| H 52 | Burke Jackson (R) | No |
| S 24 | Michael Von Flatern (R) | |
| H 32 | Jeff Wasserburger (R) | No |
| H 53 | Erin Mercer (R) | No |
| Lander/Riverton-Area Legislators | House Recall 2/23/06 |
|
| S 25 | Cale Case (R) | |
| H 33 | W. Patrick Goggles (D) | Yes |
| H 54 | Del McOmie (R) | Yes |
| S 26 | Robert A. Peck (R) | |
| H 34 | Frank Philp (R) | No |
| H 55 | David Miller (R) | No |
| Northeast/East Central WY Legislators | House Recall 2/23/06 |
|
| S 1 | C.L. Townsend (R) | |
| H 1 | Mark Semlek (R) | No |
| H 2 | Ross Diercks (D) | Yes |
| S 2 | Jim Anderson (R) | |
| H 5 | James C. Hageman (R) | No |
| H 6 | Dave Edwards (R) | No |
| S 3 | Curt Meier (R) | |
| H 3 | Deborah Alden (R) | No |
| H 4 | Edward A. Buchanan (R) | Yes |
| Sheridan-Area Legislators | House Recall 2/23/06 |
|
| S 21 | Bruce Burns (R) | |
| H 29 | Jerry Iekel (R) | No |
| H 51 | Rosie Berger (R) | No |
| S 22 | John Schiffer (R) | |
| H 30 | Jack Landon (R) | Yes |
| H 40 | Doug Osborn (R) | No |
| South Central WY Legislators | House Recall 2/23/06 |
|
| S 9 | Mike Massie (D) | |
| H 13 | Jane Warren (D) | Yes |
| H 45 | Kevin A. White (R) | Yes |
| S 10 | Phil Nicholas (R) | |
| H 14 | Kermit C. Brown (R) | No |
| H 46 | James Slater (R) | No |
| S 11 | Bill Vasey (D) | |
| H 15 | George Bagby (D) | Yes |
| H 47 | Kurt Bucholz (R) | No |
| Southwest WY Legislators | House Recall 2/23/06 |
|
| S 12 | Rae Lynn Job (D) | |
| H 48 | Marty Martin (D) | Yes |
| H 16 | Pete Jorgensen (D) | Yes |
| S 13 | Tex Boggs (D) | |
| H 17 | Stephen Watt (R) | Yes |
| H 60 | Bill Thompson (D) | Yes |
| S 14 | Stan Cooper (R) | |
| H 18 | Mick Powers (R) | No |
| H 39 | John Hastert (D) | Yes |
| S 15 | Ken Decaria (D) | |
| H 19 | Owen Petersen (R) | No |
| H 49 | Bruce Barnard (R) | No |
| West Central WY Legislators | House Recall 2/23/06 |
|
| S 16 | Pat Aullman (R) | |
| H 20 | Kathy Davison (R) | No |
| H 21 | Randall Luthi (R) | No |
| S 17 | Grant Larson (R) | |
| H 22 | Monte Olsen (R) | No |
| H 23 | Keith Gingery (R) | No |
See Southwest Region for H 16 and S 12 | ||