Gov. Kristi Noem loses fight to repeal grocery tax

Lawmakers choose across-the-board cut instead

PIERRE – Gov. Kristi Noem lost her bid to eliminate the state sales tax on food Tuesday as a House committee rejected her proposal and instead adopted an across-the-board sales tax reduction.

The House Appropriations Committee vote doesn’t necessarily doom the grocery tax repeal – it could be revived during the final three weeks of the legislative session. But it would need to overcome House Republicans, whose caucus favored the reduction in the overall rate.

The same committee passed a bill that would reduce the sales tax rate from 4.5 percent to 4.2 percent. That amount would reduce state revenues by about $104 million – roughly the same amount as if the entire 4.5 percent were eliminated just from groceries.

NEWS: Kristi Noem has enough money to be player in state politics for years to come