WDRB 41 Louisville - News, Weather, Sports CommunityProposal for tax free day

Louisville, KY (WDRB News) -- If one state lawmaker has her way, back to school shoppers in Kentucky will get a so-called tax-free holiday.

That's the proposal of State Representative Julie Raque Adams. The Louisville Republican says she will co-sponsor a bill that would exempt shoppers from the state's six-percent sales tax for one weekend just before the start of each school year.

"We are still in tough economic times," says Adams, "and I think anything we can do to help families get ready for back to school is our responsibility."

With two children of her own in school, Adams knows first hand the costs of getting kids ready to go back to school each summer.

She and Representative Donna Mayfield of Winchester are promising to file a bill that would allow the sales tax to be suspended at noon on the last Friday of July, and continue through that weekend, until Sunday at midnight. 

The proposed exemption would only apply to school supplies, clothing, computers, and printers.

Similar legislation has been introduced before, but has failed to make it through the General Assembly.   Adams says a study is currently underway to determine how much money the state will lose from a tax holiday.

Twenty other states, including Tennessee and West Virginia, had a tax-free shopping weekend this past summer.

However, given Kentucky state government's current financial situation, lawmakers may not be inclined to support such a bill.

Representative Adams says it is worth another try to help the many Kentuckians struggling to make ends meet.

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