Plus, the simple change the IRS could make to help families.
Good morning. Salt Lake City will have a high of 39° and a low of 21°. Today, we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. Last year, the Deseret News editorial board encouraged readers to read Dr. King's entire "I Have a Dream Speech," rather than just out-of-context quotes. This year, the Rev. Theresa A. Dear reminds us that Dr. King's "unfinished work is now ours." Also on our mind today: the upcoming 2022 Utah Legislature general session, the policy that's upsetting Sundance Film Festival ticket buyers and the latest in the Novak Djokovic saga. |
| What is the tax rate on food in Utah? This lawmaker wants it to be zero |
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| | What's happened: Utah legislators passed a tax reform bill at the end of 2019 that decreased income tax but increased sales tax on food, gas and some other services. In January 2020, lawmakers repealed the controversial legislation. What's next: First-term legislator Rosemary Lesser wants to completely eliminate the sales tax on food. And she's not the only Utah lawmaker who feels that way. Why?: According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, low-income families spend 36% of their income on food, compared to 8% for high-income families. “Taxing a necessity like food, which is so burdensome on the poor in our community, that’s what struck a nerve with me," Lesser said. Her research also suggests that sales tax money pouring into Utah from online sales — a source of revenue that’s opened up just the past two years — more than compensates for revenue lost from a food tax. | With the 2022 Utah Legislature general session beginning on Tuesday, radio news reporter Dan Bammes has some thoughts on the systems Utah lawmakers have created that are working well. One such system? Legislative appropriations. In Utah, every member of the House and Senate sits on one of seven joint appropriations subcommittees. One of the effects is that "after the very first year ... that legislator becomes an expert on some segment of our state government," according to Haven J. Barlow, who was president of the Utah Senate when the system was implemented in the 1960s. Read more from Dan Bammes. More in Politics One bad week for President Joe Biden? Mitt Romney says it’s more like 52 bad weeks (Deseret News) Persepective: Want to help families? Raise the limit on dependent-care savings accounts (Deseret News) Utah's poor air quality shortens life expectancy by 2 years. A new bill could show the true cost (Deseret News) |
FROM OUR SPONSOR VOICES UTAH Conversations with today's most inspirational and influential voices Join Deseret News and Utah Business in this VIP limited engagement series featuring Mike Conley, Joe Ingles and more. Attend for personal meet and greets, photo sessions and intimate conversations with the voices who have engaged and captured our attention. Buy tickets for the April 12 event. | COVID The early omicron variant symptoms to remember (Deseret News) COVID test lines shorter after reservation system installed (KSL.com) Faith There are more Muslims in interfaith relationships but not many imams willing to marry them (The Washington Post 🔒) Southern Utah St. George Area Chamber of Commerce announces scholarship program (St. George News) Iron County officials to hold town hall meeting on proposed new jail (St. George News) Northern Utah Questions remain as Weber County development document still in the works (The Standard-Examiner) Ogden NAACP hosting MLK Day march with focus on voting rights act (The Standard-Examiner) Wasatch Front ‘Citizen group’ looks to start new school district in Draper (KUER) Ticket buyers complain about Sundance Film Festival’s no-refunds policy (The Salt Lake Tribune 🔒) PCMR ski patrol union ratifies deal with Vail Resorts, ending possibility of a strike (The Park Record) The West Closely built homes helped Marshall firestorm spread, researchers say (The Denver Post) The Nation The FBI has identified the British man it says took hostages at a Texas synagogue (NPR) University of Michigan fires its president over inappropriate relationship (The New York Times 🔒) The World Novak Djokovic deported before the Australian Open (Deseret News) Netanyahu in talks to reach plea bargain in corruption trial (NPR) Supply chain woes could worsen as China imposes new COVID policies (The New York Times 🔒) | Thanks for starting your morning with us! Stay healthy out there, and please let us know what you think about Utah Today by replying or emailing us at [email protected]. — Ashley |
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