After losing a certain amount of favor due to the most recent economic downturn, sales tax holidays are enjoying a renaissance. They are like flowers in bloom after a particularly cold winter. Now that the money is slowly but surely starting to trickle back in, and states again have some room to play with, the holidays are cropping back up across the country. Though the concept’s qualitative benefits have been questioned, sales tax holidays have been unilaterally embraced by politicians and taxpayers alike. In fact, the holiday idea seems to be immune to the skepticism of those that argue it simply isn’t sound financial policy.
First instituted in New York in 1997, the tax holiday seeks to provide relief to taxpayers by instituting a temporary sales tax exemption on certain items for a specific period of time. The holiday typically occurs in August, the traditional back-to-school shopping period, and generally applies to merchandise connected with the new school year, particularly clothing, footwear and computer equipment.
2006 State Sales Tax Holidays
Alabama
August 4-6
Connecticut
August 20-26
District of Columbia
August 5-13
Georgia
August 3-6
Iowa
August 4-5
Maryland
August 23-27
Massachusetts
August 12-13
Missouri
August 4-6
New Mexico
August 4-6
North Carolina
August 4-6
South Carolina
August 4-6
Tennessee
August 4-6
Texas
August 4-6
Virginia
August 4-6
Most states try to target the tax break somewhat by placing a ceiling on the price of eligible merchandise; typically, $100 to $300 per clothing item sold and $1,500 to $4,000 for computer equipment. Any item priced under the ceiling can be purchased tax-free for the duration of the holiday.
State legislatures see the tax holiday as a way to alleviate the tax burden on working families, as well as a means of jump-starting local retail businesses. Critics of the tax holiday, however, see the policy as a gimmick, and less helpful to the consumer than proponents claim.
For instance, if a family spends around $250 on back-to-school clothes, and we factor in an average 6 percent sales tax exemption, then the exemption represents $15 of total tax savings. State lawmakers on both sides of the party fence support their holidays; Republicans like them because they fit into the agenda of cutting taxes, while Democrats use them to show their advocacy of the working class.
Critics, on the other hand, argue that the holidays represent a modern day "breads and circuses”, playing off peoples’ emotional reaction and pushing the real issue of sound fiscal policy out to the periphery. By promoting the holiday, the states are blinding the taxpayers to the reality of the other 51 weeks in a year, according to dissenters. Beyond that and more to the point, a sales tax holiday is not a particularly efficient means to providing financial assistance or relief to lower-income taxpayers.
Now that the economic picture is a bit sunnier, though, the holidays are thriving. The number of states holding such a holiday is back at twelve, near its apex several years ago. States that had recently dumped their holidays have jumped back on the bandwagon, most notably Florida, one of the first trailblazers to instill a holiday back in the late 1990s. Massachusetts will hold an all-encompassing holiday for two days. From August 13-14, all retail items in the state will be exempt from state taxes.
National Lighthouse Day
August 7
The text for the original 1789 act...
An Act for the Establishment and support of Lighthouse, Beacons, Buoys, and Public Piers.
Section 1.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That all expenses which shall
accrue from and after the fifteenth day of August one thousand seven hundred
and eighty-nine, in the necessary support, maintenance and repairs of all
lighthouses, beacons, buoys and public piers erected, placed, or sunk before
the passing of this act, at the entrance of, or within any bay, inlet,
harbor, or port of the United States, for rendering the navigation thereof
easy and safe, shall be defrayed out of the treasury of the United States: Provided
nevertheless, That none of the said expenses shall continue to be so
defrayed by the United States, after the expiration of one year from the
day aforesaid, unless such lighthouses, beacons, buoys and public piers,
shall in the mean time be ceded to and vested in the United States, by
the state or states respectively in which the same may be, together with
the lands and tenements thereunto belonging, and together with the
jurisdiction of the same.
Section 2.
And be it further enacted, That a lighthouse
shall be erected near the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay, at such place,
when ceded to the United States in manner aforesaid, as the President of the
United States shall direct.
Section 3.
And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of
the Treasury to provide by contracts, which shall be approved by the
President of the United States, for building a lighthouse near the entrance
of the Chesapeake Bay, and for rebuilding when necessary, and keeping in
good repair, the lighthouses, beacons, buoys, and public piers in the
several States, and for furnishing the same with all necessary supplies;
and also to agree for the salaries, wages, or hire of the person or
persons appointed by the President, for the superintendence and care of
the same.
Section 4.
And be it further enacted, That all pilots in the bays, inlets,
rivers, harbors and ports of the United States, shall continue to be
regulated in conformity with the existing laws of the States
respectively wherein such pilots may be, or with such laws as the States may respectively hereafter
enact for the purpose, until further legislative provision shall be made by
Congress.
APPROVED, August 7, 1789.
Origin of National Lighthouse Day...
Senator John H.
Chafee (Rhode Island) sponsored a joint resolution that was introduced to
Congress on April 28, 1988 designating the day of August 7, 1989 as
"National Lighthouse Day.” The summary of the resolution stated, "Designates
August 7, 1989, as National Lighthouse Day and calls for lighthouse grounds,
where feasible, to be open to the public.” The resolution passed the Senate
on July 26, 1988 and the House (sponsored by Representative William J.
Hughes, New Jersey) on October 21, 1988. President Ronald Reagan signed the
Bill into public law (No. 100-622) on November 5, 1988.
Friendship Day
There is not much literature on Friendship Day history as we celebrate today. However, there are numerous folktales and several instance in mythological legends that shows that friends and friendship have been valued since the beginning of civilized world. As an intrinsically social creature, men love to make friends to further this process of socialization.
Considering the valuable role friends play in our life it was deemed to fit to have a day dedicated to friends and friendship. The United States Congress, in 1935, proclaimed first Sunday of August as the National Friendship Day. Since then, celebration of National Friendship Day became an annual event. The noble idea of honoring the beautiful relationship of friendship caught on with the people and soon Friendship Day became a hugely popular festival.
