Montgomery, AL – An effort to remove the state's 4 percent sales tax from groceries in Alabama has failed for the fourth and most likely last time during the 2009 regular session.
The Alabama House voted 59-41 on Tuesday for the proposed constitutional amendment to remove the tax from groceries. That was one vote short of the three-fifths vote needed to bring the issue up for debate in the House.
Republican leaders opposed the bill sponsored by Democratic Rep. John Knight of Montgomery because it would have replaced the loss of about $400 million a year in revenue with higher income taxes on wealthier residents. All but two of the 43 Republicans in the House voted ``no.''
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)