Local reaction to HCR 2021
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Yuma residents are sharing their reaction to HCR 2021, also known as the Food for Home Consumption tax bill.
According to FastDemocracy.com, the bill "proposes to prohibit cities, towns, or other taxing jurisdictions in Arizona from imposing a municipal transaction privilege tax on the sale of food items intended for home consumption."
The bill is said to "ensure that food sold for home consumption is exempt from such taxes, thereby potentially reducing the cost of living for residents," and that "any city or town wishing to impose or increase such a tax must obtain voter approval, and any existing tax rates above two percent must be reduced to that level by the specified date."
The bill is co-sponsored by State Representatives Nick Kupper, Michele Pena and Michael Carbone.
Earlier this month, during a listening session, City Administrator Jay Simonton shared his thoughts on the bill saying, "If this passes, and goes through, you're going to set it back a decade, at least. It took us a decade to get out of the impacts of the Great Recession when we had a revenue cut that was severe and we have no other make-up revenue source for that."
Originally, the House was supposed to vote on HCR 2021 Tuesday, but was pushed back to Wednesday because according to Deputy City Attorney Rodney Short, the bill was "assigned to the Additional Committee of the Whole (AddCOW)" to debate on the bill.
If the bill passes, it will go into effect on June 30, 2027. To check the status of the bill, click here.
