The idea of possibly cutting or eliminating Alabama’s grocery tax has gained momentum in recent weeks, as some political leaders, including Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth and State Minority Leader Anthony Daniels (R-Huntsville), have openly called for it to be done this year.
Monday on Alabama Public Television’s “Capitol Journal,” Senate Pro Tem Greg Reed (R-Jasper) admitted he’s open to the idea.
“It impacts and affects everyone, every area of the state, whether it’s rural, whether it’s urban,” Reed said. “So I think that’s why you’ve begun to see this as a topic of discussion, and I’ve encouraged it within the Senate to continue to think about it, look at it.”
The lawmaker said the surplus funds from the American Rescue Plan Act gives the Legislature a chance to at least consider a change with the tax.
“I think only because of the surpluses are reasons that we have an opportunity to talk about it,” he said. “If you look at the numbers, it’s $600 million that goes to our education budget from the grocery tax, and again, Alabama has one of the lowest tax burdens on her citizenry of any state in the nation. Now other states don’t tax groceries. Alabama chooses to do that. Is there a way that even though we have the lowest tax burden already, are there ways that we can modify some of the taxes on food? I just think that’s an organic conversation.”
Reed said the numbers have to add up before any kind of tax cut would be able to pass.
“(W)e can’t eliminate significant funding within our education budget, of course, long term,” he said, “but if there are ways to use some of the fund that we currently have to be able to moderate some of those taxes over time, then it’s smart for us to look at it, and it would be beneficial for the people of Alabama.”
Reed said he’s pleased with what they have been able to accomplish in the session up to this point.
“Well, I think the Legislature has already been very disciplined as we’ve got started with this the first session of the new quadrennium,” he said. “We made the decision, with the governor’s help, to move forward on ARPA. That needed to be separate from a lot of what we were doing with budget related topics, we’ve been able to handle that … I think a lot of the members now are interested not only in the incentives, but they’re interested in their own pieces of legislation, items that are important in their districts … and so we’re going to get into that.
“Allow this committee process to work. Allow this legislation to move forward. Have the work of the committees show up in what we’re doing with the different pieces of legislation. So I think we get going with that.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
