GALLATIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — If you still feel the sticker shock at the grocery store, Tennessee lawmakers from both political parties have now proposed legislation to save you a few dollars.
"This tax hits the poorest amongst us, the hardest. Everybody has to buy groceries," said Rep. William Lamberth, R-
Portland, serving as House Majority Leader.
Lamberth — along with East Tennessee Rep. Elaine Davis — are proposing the outright end to the state's four percent portion of the grocery tax on food and food ingredients.
"The least we can do is try to take off the state portion of the grocery tax to try to make it a little easier on my friends and neighbors," said Lamberth.
Democrats filed a similar bill in 2024 and for the upcoming 2025 session. But Rep. Aftyn Behn's version has one key difference. She replaces the state's grocery tax with a new tax on Tennessee corporations.
"It’s an accountability mechanism for corporations in the state of Tennessee that are not paying their franchise tax. They’re not paying their excise tax," said Rep. Behn, D-Nashville, back in March.
Lamberth blasted the Democratic proposal.
"To me that’s ridiculous. I mean, that’s robbing Peter to pay Paul," said Lamberth.
There's no official estimate for how much the grocery tax cut would cost the state, but when lawmakers considered the move last year, the estimate was around $750 million each year. In a tight budget year, that could mean the state would have to make major cuts to the budget to be able to afford the cut. Lamberth thinks that isn't such a bad thing.
"In Tennessee anyways, we continue to truncate the size of government, we continue to reduce the size of government, and we live within our means," he said.
Lamberth thinks the sacrifices could be worth it.
"That’s more money in your pocket. That’s more groceries you can buy for your kids," said Lamberth.
Neither version of the grocery tax cut would impact the local portion of the grocery tax, although counties have the authority to reduce or eliminate those as well thanks to a law passed earlier this year.
We asked Senate Republicans if they'd be open to backing Rep. Davis's proposal. They indicated they're willing to consider any tax cut.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@newschannel5.com.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
