Senate blocks grocery tax bill

May 09, 2008 10:17 am

— MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A bill to remove the state sales tax on groceries stalled again Thursday in the Alabama Senate, and time is running out for its consideration.
Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, tried to get the Senate to begin debate on the bill, but he fell one vote short of the required number to open discussion. Sanders made a similar effort April 30 and fell three votes short.
The Legislature has one more meeting day left in its 2008 session, and Sanders said he will try again. “It’s not dead for this session,” he said.
The bill is a proposed constitutional amendment that would remove the state’s 4 percent grocery sales tax and would raise the threshold where a family of four starts paying the state income tax from $12,600 to $20,000 in annual income. The bill would replace the lost revenue by removing the state’s income tax deduction for federal income taxes paid, which primarily benefits higher-income taxpayers.
The Senate voted 20-11 with three abstentions to begin debate on the bill, which was one vote shy of the required number. The Senate also would need 21 votes to pass the bill.
Most of the Senate’s Republican minority opposed beginning debate.