The Indiana Refreshment Provider Association (IRPA) continued their efforts to obtain Sales Tax Parity for the Operators doing business in Indiana as noted in an email from Executive Director/Lobbyist, Steve Beebe:
"SB 124, our sales tax parity legislation, passed the Senate Tax & Fiscal Policy Committee earlier today by a vote of 11-0! This is a significant victory as the committee process is the most critical step in the passage of legislation in Indiana.
"Jeff Snyder and Justin McDonald provided the testimony before the committee and deftly fielded several questions. And I would be remiss if I didn’t give credit to Sen. Jon Ford who has been advising us and working his colleagues behind the scenes. And I’d be doubly remiss if I didn’t thank our bill author, Sen. Travis Holdman for scheduling the bill for a hearing in his committee. And let me add triply (or is it thrice?) remiss if I didn’t thank those IRPA members who emailed their state senator who serves as a member of the Tax & Fiscal Policy Committee. It was a great team victory!"
The Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee was the stopping point for Sales Tax Parity in Indiana in the 2017 Legislative session. Given the overwhelming support of the Indiana House of Representative in 2017, coupled with this most recent event, must be considered extremely encouraging for everyone doing business in Indiana that the long sought objective of Parity may finally be achieved.
SB 124 will be eligible for 2nd and 3rd reading at the beginning of next week. 2nd reading is the opportunity for any Senator to offer an amendment to the bill but we do not anticipate any amendments at this time. If there are no amendments, the bill automatically passes to 3rd reading which is the final vote in the Senate. Upon passage of the Senate, SB 124 will move to the House where the process will be repeated.
As a final request in his email to members, Steve Beebe suggested. "If you have already emailed your State Senator because they are a member of the Tax & Fiscal Policy Committee, send a follow-up email and thank them for supporting SB 124."
