Alabama should reduce the state sales tax on groceries again this year and work toward a sustainable solution to end the tax permanently, Alabama Arise members told legislators Thursday.
More than 200 Arise supporters gathered Thursday at the State House in Montgomery to show their support for untaxing groceries. The advocates urged state senators to support HB 386 by Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, which would reduce the state grocery tax from 3% to 2% beginning on Sept. 1. HB 386 passed the House 103-0 on Tuesday and now awaits Senate consideration.
“We’re here today to ask our lawmakers to continue what we started two years ago by reducing the state grocery tax again,” Alabama Arise board president Clyde Jones said at a news conference. “Reducing the grocery tax will make it easier for families across the state of Alabama to make ends meet. And it will be an important step toward our ultimate goal of untaxing groceries once and for all.”
The news conference was part of Arise’s annual Legislative Day event. Photos from the event are available here. A video of the news conference is available here. (Remarks start at the 3:50 mark.)
Building on a breakthrough in 2023
Alabama is one of only 10 states still taxing groceries. Three other states have ended their state tax but still allow local governments to tax food. The number of states reducing or eliminating their grocery tax has continued to grow in recent years. Most recently, Kansas ended its state grocery tax this year.
Arise members have advocated since the 1990s to eliminate Alabama’s grocery tax. That advocacy got results in 2023, when lawmakers voted unanimously to reduce the state grocery tax from 4% to 3%.
HB 386 presents an opportunity this year to continue the bipartisan progress toward untaxing groceries. Reducing the state grocery tax by 1 percentage point would save an average Alabama family of four around $150 per year, based on estimates using the moderate-cost food plan from the USDA’s cost of food at home reports.
“Our message today is simple: It is wrong to tax groceries,” Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said. “This is a highly regressive tax that drives many people deeper into poverty. Taxing food makes it harder for struggling families to put food on the table. It is a cruel tax on survival. This tax needs to end, and the sooner, the better.”
‘This is a moral issue’
Hyden expressed gratitude for Arise members’ persistent and determined advocacy to end the grocery tax. She also thanked Garrett and many other current and former legislative champions of untaxing groceries. Those lawmakers include Sens. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, and Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove; Reps. Laura Hall, D-Huntsville, and Penni McClammy, D-Montgomery; and former Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery.
“This is not a partisan issue. This is a moral issue,” Hyden said. “We’re going to continue to work together to get HB 386 across the finish line with the help of our senators, and to find a sustainable way to fund our state government without taxing people deeper into poverty.”