Ivey signs grocery tax reduction into law
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday signed legislation to reduce Alabama’s sales tax on groceries.
The tax cut will reduce the state’s 4% tax on groceries to 3% on Sept. 1. The tax will drop to 2% on Sept. 1, 2024, but only if tax collections to the Education Trust Fund rise at least 3.5% to offset the loss. If that growth requirement isn’t met, the tax would be reduced to 2% in the next year that the growth requirement is satisfied.
“As Alabamians and Americans alike are grappling with tighter times, I am hopeful that this decision by the Legislature to slightly reduce the sales tax on certain food items will be truly felt by Alabama families,” Ivey said in a statement.
Alabama is one of only three states that tax groceries at the same rate as other purchases. Advocates had long argued that taxing food at such a rate placed an unfair burden on families in the poor Southern state, where 16% of the people live in poverty and the median household income hovers around $54,000.
Some lawmakers had tried unsuccessfully for decades to remove the tax. The measure gained broad bipartisan support this year against a backdrop of soaring food prices and a hefty state budget surplus.
“This is welcome news for Alabamians who are struggling to make ends meet and working hard to keep food on the table. And this is meaningful progress toward a more just and equitable tax system for our state,” Chris Sanders, a spokesman for Alabama Arise, an advocacy group for low-income families.
Sanders said the “state grocery tax is a cruel tax on survival.” He said Alabama Arise remains committed to the goal of eliminating it entirely.
Legislative efforts to remove the full 4% tax faltered because of concerns about the loss of funding to the state education budget and a lack of political will to raise other taxes to offset the loss. The current 4% tax provides more than $600 million annually to the state for its Education Trust Fund, which currently totals a little more than $8 billion.
Lawmakers are creating a study commission to explore the possibility of eventually removing all of the tax.
Alabama’s prison population sees troubling growth in latest DOJ report
For the first time in nearly a decade, U.S. prison populations are trending up. Alabama's numbers are a part of troubling gains across the Gulf South.
A narrowing Republican presidential field will debate in Tuscaloosa Wednesday
Four candidates will be on stage at the University of Alabama for their last scheduled meeting before the Iowa caucuses kick off the presidential nominating season next month. Former President Donald Trump, the race’s clear front-runner, will not be among them.
Place, Erased: A virtual listening session with the Gulf States Newsroom; RSVP now
Join us as we listen to the recent series about towns transformed by major environmental shifts and talk with the reporters about what they learned.
Tuberville is ending blockade of most military nominees
Tuberville’s blockade of military promotions was over a dispute about a Pentagon abortion policy. The Alabama Republican said Tuesday he’s “not going to hold the promotions of these people any longer.”
Man featured in ‘S-Town’ podcast shot and killed by police during standoff, authorities say
Joseph Tyler Goodson was shot by officers after he barricaded himself inside a home and “brandished a gun" at officers early Sunday, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said. Bibb County Coroner Patrick Turner said that Goodson was pronounced “brain dead” Tuesday night at a hospital.
The next Republican debate is in Alabama, the state that gave the GOP a road map to Donald Trump
The state that propelled George Wallace, a Democrat and four-term governor, into national politics is now dominated by Republicans loyal to Donald Trump, another figure who leans heavily on grievance and white identity politics.
