Advocacy groups in Alabama want state lawmakers to cut taxes. The recent inflation rate in Alabama is almost 7 percent.
The Alabama Policy Institute is pushing for a state legislative session to discuss a possible tax relief package. State legislators do not meet until next year’s annual session in March. Neighboring states like Georgia and Mississippi have already passed tax remands and cuts.
Justin Bogie with Alabama Policy Institute said Alabama is more than capable of offering tax relief to its residents.
“The state has more money than it’s ever had before. It’s also spending a lot of money. State spending rose about 35% from 2019 to 2022," Bogie said. "If we would just stop the growth of government, not even talking about cutting government, which a lot of people would advocate for, slow that growth down [and] you could pay for things like the grocery tax or a gas tax holiday.”
Bogie says API has received pushback for its advocacy.
“The pushback on a lot of these things we’re talking about is going to be how do you fill the hole in the budget. We’ve already heard some of that," Bogie said. "If you end the grocery tax, then you’re taking money out of education. There’s also this argument that if you get rid of the grocery tax, local authorities are just going to go and increase theirs by 4%. The arguments don’t really make sense to me.”
Bogie said the grocery tax, gas tax, business privilege tax and business personal property tax are all viable candidates for a tax relief package.
