The defeat of our "untax groceries" bill this year has sent us back to the drawing board. We'd like to know what you think. Click here to complete our short survey.

On April 8, 2010, the Alabama House of Representatives voted against bringing House Bill 1, the "untax groceries" bill, up for debate. ACPP executive director Kimble Forrister issued the following statement in response to the bill's defeat:

"We are deeply disappointed that only 54 state representatives voted to bring the 'untax groceries' bill, House Bill 1, up for floor debate, while 42 voted against it. The Yes votes were 53 Democrats and one Republican, Rep. Spencer Collier of Irvington. All 42 No votes came from Republicans.

"We don't know how we could have offered the opponents a better deal. They knew this bill would lower taxes for 96 percent of Alabama taxpayers. Instead they voted to protect the big money of the 4 percent, knowing that even a millionaire was going to have a tax increase of less than 1 percent of income.

"Voters need to thank the supporters and challenge the opponents about their vote, and they should not accept evasive answers. The opponents knew how badly families needed help. They knew that the top earners pay only 4 percent of their incomes in state and local taxes, half of what the rest of us pay. But they still voted to protect the millionaires, at the expense of everyone else."

By taxing the basic necessities of life, Alabama taxes low-income people deeper into poverty. Everyone should shoulder a reasonable share of the costs for education, health care, public safety -- the services that provide for the common good in our state. The heaviest load shouldn't fall on those least able to pay.

Many working Alabamians are finding it increasingly hard to make ends meet. As the nation's economy continues to suffer through a recession and the number of layoffs continues to climb, Alabama remains one of only two states -- the other is Mississippi -- that offer no tax breaks on groceries. Elimination of the 4 percent Alabama sales tax on groceries would cut the average annual grocery bill for a family by roughly $100 per person, based on food expenditure estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Read the grocery tax bill here.

Find out more about the grocery tax bill here, here and here.

Find out how your representative voted here.

Get county income facts here.

Read newspaper endorsements here.

Find out more about Alabama's "upside-down" tax system here.

Ten Things You Can Do

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Get bulletin inserts here and here.

Personalize your own letter to your state representative here.

Sign up to receive grocery tax action alerts here.

Use this sheet to help us sign up supporters for removing the state grocery tax.