With no debate, the House passed the tax-exemption bill for Girl Scout cookies on a 59-11 vote. Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, said, “Cookies are about a quarter of the price of a box of cookies themselves. The remainder of that cost is actually the programs. … When you tax a box of Girl Scout cookies, you’re taxing all of those program needs also.”

Idaho is one of just two states that still taxes Girl Scout cookies; as a result, 22 cents from every $3.75 box sold goes to the state, rather than to Girl Scout programs. Granting the sales tax exemption would cost the state $140,000 a year. A big group of Girl Scouts and their leaders watched from the House gallery as the House voted on the bill, HB 250.

The bill now moves to the Senate side, where several House-passed tax exemption bills this year haven’t been taken up in the Senate Local Government & Taxation Committee.