DENVER — Today, Democrats on the House State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee, killed House Bill 1009 on a party-line vote. The bill, sponsored by Representative Kevin Van Winkle (R-Highlands Ranch) would have eliminated a double tax effect that food providers and restaurateurs, as well as the consumer, must pay on products such as packaging, sauce packets, straws, napkins and containers.
As part of the 2010 tax increase package known as the “dirty dozen”, this additional tax was implemented with the passage of House Bill 10-1194. The bill, which passed with no Republican support in the House or Senate, removed an existing tax exemption on items deemed nonessential to consumers.
“Restaurants and food providers must maintain competitive prices, and cannot simply recover these additional taxes with price increases that can compromise their ability to stay open,” said Van Winkle. “Taxes on items like bags, straws, containers, pizza boxes, napkins and condiments add thousands of dollars of overhead to businesses that are already operating with razor thin margins, and unfortunately today, Democrats turned their back on the business community in Colorado.”
Approximately 80% of Colorado restaurants are small businesses, and the restaurant industry makes up the second largest private industry in the state.
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