LANDER -- State Rep. Ann Robinson, D-Casper, brought her "Axe the Tax" campaign to repeal a state sales tax on groceries to Lander on Tuesday evening.

She was welcomed by a bipartisan pair of legislators from Fremont County -- Rep. Del McComie, R-Lander, and Rep. Patrick Goggles, D-Ethete.

Both McComie and Goggles are among 30 state legislators who are co-sponsors of the initiative or petition gatherers with Robinson, of a state-wide citizen initiative to exempt groceries from sales tax. Robinson and her allies want to either nudge the state Legislature into exempting groceries from the state sales tax, or bring the issue before voters in the general election.

Goggles said he'd like to see enough signatures collected by the 2006 session to persuade legislators to exempt the sales tax on groceries, and not wait until voters decide at the November general election in 2006.

All three legislators said that since Wyoming state government is in great shape financially, there's no excuse to continue to levy a regressive tax on citizens, especially where low income individuals pay a higher percentage of their income on groceries than do the middle or upper income citizens.

"Everyone eats," McComie said.

McComie candidly acknowledged that he's voted against Robinson's previous bills to exempt groceries from the state sales tax, back when the state faced huge budget deficits.

"I changed my mind, because now we have money," McComie said. Since many legislators have lived through previous booms and busts, McComie predicted that if the legislature does exempt groceries from the state sales tax next year, they'll do so with a sunset provision -- just to play it safe.

Goggles said many of his constituents are low to middle income, or are on fixed incomes.

"I think we give (tax) exemptions to the wrong folks," he said. "We need to benefit everyday folks." Goggles said he wants the Legislative Support Office to do a comprehensive analysis of all tax exemptions.

Robinson asked why it made sense for the state to not tax ski lift tickets, but it taxes groceries for the working poor?

At stake is $34 million -- $18 million to the state and $16 million to local governments. For an average family of four, a sales tax exemption on groceries would be about $240 or 100 gallons of milk in a year, said Robinson.

"It is going to be an uphill battle," said McComie.

By law, an initiative cannot be brought before the voters until advocates can gather enough valid signatures to constitute 15 percent of the voters from each county who cast their ballots in the most recent general election.

"We did that because we didn't want Casper or Cheyenne to control state-wide initiatives all by themselves," said McComie. "We wanted broader support before an initiative could be brought before voters."

At a minimum, that works out to 36,868 signatures from throughout the Cowboy State, said Robinson. Yet based on past experience at the Secretary of State's office, "Axe the Tax" supporters need to gather about twice that number, to be sure that enough valid signature are collected, she said. That means collecting at least 75,000 signatures by Feb. 15.

Robinson and her husband have collected 1,100 signatures in six days of petition signature gathering at special events around the state.

She recruits people to coordinate initiative efforts in each county, as well as petition signature gatherers. The vast majority of times, getting signatures is "an easy sale," because most people would like to have an extra $200-$300 dollars in their pocket by the end of the year.

"I've had people run up to me, say 'I've been looking for you. Where do I sign?'" laughed Robinson.

She's encountered very few naysayers. One said he didn't want to see a sales tax exemption on groceries, because that would just make government grow bigger.

That didn't make too much sense to Robinson, but she didn't seek a fuller explanation from the gentleman, she said.

She said she's eager to work with the Wyoming Association of Municipalities to ease their concerns about losing revenue from a grocery sales tax. She's meeting with Rawlins municipal officials on Monday.

Robinson said more information and contacts in each county are available at the "Axe the Tax" Web site: www.axethetaxonfood.com.