Grocery Tax Bill Dies In Senate

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Proponents of removing the state sales
tax on groceries haven't been able to find the votes to pass the
proposal on the Legislature's final meeting day.
State Representative John Knight and state Senator Hank Sanders
have scrambled for support in the Senate. But Senate Rules
Committee Chairman Lowell Barron didn't put the bill on the Senate's first work agenda today. Barron says it appears the
proposal is dead due to a lack of support.
The House passed the proposed constitutional amendment in March
by the minimum number of votes required. A procedural vote in the
Senate on May 8 showed the proponents were one vote short of
passage. They had tried since then without success to find the key
vote.
Knight says some people don't want the Senate to vote today
because they don't want people to know who is for and who is
against the proposal.
The legislation would remove the state's 4 percent sales tax on
groceries and raise the threshold where a family of four starts
paying state income tax from $12,600 to $20,000. To make up for the
lost revenue, the proposal would end the state's income tax
deduction for federal taxes paid.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)