Dear Editor,
Is it right that food pantries go bare while Tennessee’s food tax is so high? Absolutely not! Is it right that while Tennesseans pay 8.35 percent tax on groceries while the tax on cigarettes is only 20 cents per pack? No way!
Tennessee’s current tax programs place unfair burdens on the backs of our state’s most vulnerable populations while simultaneously giving smokers the benefit of paying a low tax. This is not just. We must reduce the burden of heavy taxation on food and increase the tax on cigarettes.
Governor Bredesen proposes to raise the cigarette tax in order to increase the budget for education. We suggest that increased spending on education will not improve the success of our state’s children if they are not receiving adequate nutrition at home.
Sadly, some families have to make the hard choice of which groceries to buy because high taxation eats away at their critical buying power. This is not right!
Current bills in both the State Senate and House of Representatives propose a food tax/ cigarette tax swap. SB 93 and HB 114 propose to decrease the food tax by 3 percent and increase the cigarette tax by 40 cents per pack.
Contact your legislators and tell them you support SB 93 and HB 114. Join us in our letter writing campaign: taxswap2007@gmail.com.
– Emily Orten, Erica Thomas, Sherika Goodman

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