If the estimates hold true, it looks as though state Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery, is on the right track with a bill that would ease food costs on those who can least afford the continued upswing in prices.According to Knight’s assessment, a bill that is expected to be debated beginning today could save money for about 1.5 million Alabama households while another 700,000 households may pay more in taxes.
Knight’s plan would remove the 4 percent state sales tax on groceries and cut state income taxes for lower income citizens. But it would raise taxes for upper income Alabamians – those making more than $100,000 a year.
But he predicts that about 80 percent of Alabama households could save money under the plan while only 20 percent would ante up more in taxes.
It is a cinch that relief needs to come from somewhere for far too many Alabamians suffering through soaring energy and fuel costs. Eliminating 4 percent sales tax on the food they put on their family tables is a logical solution other states have already recognized as the right thing to do.
It is time for Alabama to follow suit, and we hope that a compromise can be reached on taxing the state’s upper income, or we suspect it will become the reason for doing otherwise.
