November 18, 2005

Members
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Harrisburg , PA 17120

Dear Representatives:

On behalf of Pennsylvanians who live day-to-day with anxiety about the source of their next meal, we urge you to reject proposals to finance the reform of property taxes through the taxation of food.

The consumption of food is a necessity, not a choice. To remain healthy and productive, we all need a variety of nutritious foods every day.

Nevertheless, an increasing number of Pennsylvanians struggle to achieve this minimum standard. According to a recent USDA report, Household Food Security in the United States – 2004, during the period 2002-04 in Pennsylvania 10.2 percent of households experienced food insecurity. This encompassed 1.4 million individuals. It is the worst result for Pennsylvania in the 10 years that the USDA has been collecting and reporting food security data.

Hunger also was up in Pennsylvania, from 2.2 percent of households during the period 1999-2001 and 2.6 percent during the period 2001-03 to 2.9 percent during this most recent reporting period (2002-04). About 140,000 households experienced this more severe condition, encompassing 336,000 individuals.

Given the growing problem of hunger, and given the rising frequency with which working families are needing food assistance from pantries and cupboards, it would be a huge mistake to make food more expensive through imposition of a tax. We recognize that food purchased with funds provided by the Food Stamp Program would be exempted from such a tax. However, a food stamp allotment is intended to cover only a portion of a household’s monthly food needs and usually runs out in the second or third week of the month. According to the USDA, currently at least 40 percent of potentially eligible households are not enrolled in the Program. Most importantly, households with incomes above 130 percent of poverty are not eligible for food stamps. Thus, a sales tax on food would especially burden the working poor – those between 130 and 200 percent of poverty – and drive more of them to food pantries and cupboards. This would not be prudent social policy.

Shelter also is a necessity and securing affordable shelter is rendered more difficult by the current practice of levying taxes on residential real estate. Thus, we commend the General Assembly for its current efforts to lighten the burden of taxation on primary residences, whether those residences are owned or leased.

For many low-income homeowners, the elimination of the property tax (even just the part levied by local school districts) would more than offset the increased cost to those households of a sales tax levied on food purchased for consumption at home. However, this would not be true for renters, who currently pay property taxes through their rental payments and who would likely not see a decrease in their rental obligations. Thus, for low-income renters the imposition of a tax on food would make food more expensive without any offsetting savings in housing costs.

An equitable tax system funds public services without impoverishing those least able to pay. A tax on food purchased for home consumption would violate that standard. Therefore, while you work to adopt a plan to reduce property taxes on residential units, we ask that you retain the current sales tax exemption on food purchased for consumption at home.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

This letter is endorsed by the following organizations, each of which provides food, nutrition or emergency referral services to low-income Pennsylvania households.

Archdiocese of Philadelphia
Patrick F. E. Temple-West, Director, Nutritional Development Services

Bloomsburg Food Cupboard
Martha Sheehe, Chief Coordinator

Big Brothers/ Big Sisters of Huntingdon County
Gail Clapper, County Coordinator

Boys and Girls Club of Lancaster
Karen Schloer, Chief Professional Officer

Central Pennsylvania Food Bank (Harrisburg)
Kendall Hanna, Executive Director

Center for Community Services
Ann Foor, Assistant Director

CHANNELS Food Program (Lemoyne)
Jean Beatty , Executive Director

Charter Oak Church (Greensburg)
Betsy Hunt, Director of Serve Ministries and Community Care

Christian Churches United (Harrisburg)
Jacqueline Rucker, Executive Director

Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley
Second Harvest Food Bank of the Lehigh Valley and Northeast PA
Alan Jennings, Executive Director

Conrad Weiser Food Pantry (Robesonia)
Cheryl L. Young, Coordinator

Family and Community Service of Delaware County
Alan Edelstein, Executive Director

Fayette County Community Action Agency
Madeline Sloboda, Director of Operations

Greater Berks Food Bank (Reading)
Peg Bianca , Executive Director

Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank
Joyce Rothermel , Chief Executive Officer

Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger
Karen Wilson, Executive Director

Hunger/Nutrition Coalition of Bucks County
Joann Connelly and Deb Krikner, Co-Chairs

Huntingdon County Healthy Communities Partnership
Chris Gildea, Group Facilitator

Huntingdon County United Way
Sylvia Morris, Executive Director

Interfaith Coalition of Food Centers of Delaware County
Rev. Lessie Harrison, Executive Director

Just Harvest (Pittsburgh)
Joni Rabinowitz , Co-Director

Maternal and Family Health Services (Wilkes-Barre)
Bette Cox Saxton, Executive Director/CEO

Mazzoni Center (Philadelphia)
Alecia Manley, Director of Care Service

Montgomery County Community Action Development Commission
Rick Beaton, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer

Northern Tier Community Action (Emporium)
Kenneth Straub, Executive Director

Nutrition Action Group
Debra Kirchhof-Glazier, Coordinator

Pennsylvania Association of Regional Food Banks (Canonsburg)
Sheila Christopher, Executive Director

Pennsylvania Hunger Action Center (Harrisburg)
Berry Friesen , Executive Director

Philabundance (Philadelphia)
Melanie Jumonville, Vice-President of Programs

Project S.H.A.R.E. Food Bank (Carlisle)
Elaine Livas, Director

Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania
Karen Seggi, Executive Director

SHARE Food Program (Philadelphia)
Steveanna Wynn , Executive Director

Snyder-Union-Northumberland County Women, Infant and Children Food Program
Leslie Patterson, WIC Coordinator

Society of St. Vincent DePaul (Apollo)
Rich Trinclisti, Food Pantry Coordinator

The Food Trust (Philadelphia)
Yael Lehmann, Acting Executive Director

Trinity Episcopal Soup Kitchen (Bethlehem)
Rev. Elizabeth Miller, Deacon/Soup Kitchen Coordinator

United Way of Berks County
Karen A. Rightmire, President

United Way of Beaver County
Bruce Simmeth, Executive Director

United Way of Butler County
Leslie A. Osche, Executive Director

United Way of Columbia County
John Thomas, Executive Director

United Way of Venango County
A. Jane Klinger, Executive Director

Victory House of Lehigh Valley
James H. Hogg III, Operations Manager

Water Street Rescue Mission (Lancaster)
R. Wayne Wever, Director of Men’s Ministries

West Bethlehem Emergency Food Pantry
Suzanne Beam, Volunteer

Westmoreland County Food Bank
Marlene Kozak, Executive Director