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Until a few months ago, I never really thought much about the price of eggs, but as I ate breakfast this morning, I couldn’t help but think about how I just paid over $5 for a dozen.
Suddenly, I developed a new appreciation for sunny-side up.
I decided to turn on the news. Well, so much for sunny-side up. It was an endless, scrambled stream of stories that all seemed to point to economic uncertainty. Chaos that has been caused by trade-war tariffs, massive layoffs, rising prices, sinking consumer confidence, instability in the stock market, and yes– the skyrocketing cost and scarcity of eggs.
This made me think about my neighbors in my district and the real struggles that these hard- working people are facing right now just to put food on the table and pay their bills. I thought about how they are concerned when they hear about local Social Security offices closing or cuts to services for veterans. Throughout Alabama, hard-working people are living paycheck-to- paycheck and anxious about their economic future.
In this “Egg-conomy”, we need government to be part of the solution, not the problem.
That’s why Alabama House Democrats are introducing several new tax-relief proposals to put more money in your pocket. The first step would be to permanently eliminate the state tax on overtime pay. Rep. Anthony Daniels passed this legislation in 2023 and it was the first law of its kind in the nation. Unfortunately, it’s set to expire in June. We can’t afford to let that happen.
Republicans say we can’t afford to help hard-working, overtime-working Alabamians. We say we can’t afford NOT to.
Not only does this tax cut work for employers by helping to increase productivity and ease workforce shortages, it puts more money into the pockets of hard workers who are willing to go above and beyond and work overtime. The extra money they take home is spent in their local communities, which means a significant portion goes back into state coffers via the sales tax. In fact, corporate tax receipts are up almost 14 percent. Individual tax receipts are up almost 2 percent.
This has also had a positive impact on Alabama’s workforce participation rate and workplace productivity. The reason is simple: when we reduce the tax burden on workers, we increase economic opportunity and build an economy that allows people to get ahead instead of just getting by. Tax breaks for working people allow them to thrive and not just survive.
Second, it’s time to eliminate the grocery tax altogether. The people of Alabama need immediate relief and they can’t afford to wait around hoping that maybe in another year or two they’ll see another tiny 1 percent decrease off a 4 percent food tax. We need to simply get rid of the whole thing now and help folks put food on their tables, not next year or the year after, but immediately. Republicans say we can’t afford to cut the 4 percent grocery tax any further. Seriously? What they’re really saying is that cutting the cost of food is simply not a priority.
Although we continually fight to improve, the hard and cold fact is that Alabama is the 5th poorest state in the nation.17 percent of Alabama adults and almost one out of every four Alabama children faces food insecurity. Let me repeat that: a quarter of Alabama’s children are denied the certainty of knowing where their next meal will come from! Some people may not want to hear this, but another hard cold fact is that the Trump administration is currently taking steps to cut funding for SNAP, Meals on Wheels, and other food programs that families and children throughout Alabama rely on. Not only that, but those types of cuts hurt our elderly, many of whom have fixed incomes or disabilities. For them, every single penny counts.
Finally, it’s time to reduce the state income tax for Alabama workers. Our legislation would cut state income taxes from 5 percent to 4 percent. Doing that, coupled with permanently eliminating state tax on overtime pay and untaxing groceries, would put more money in the pockets of workers and help them combat the rising cost of living.
These tax cut proposals would be fair and meaningful for workers who keep our economy strong. This will have a huge impact on the lives of so many people that see the costs of everything skyrocketing. In addition, this would also ease some of the financial burden on employers and allow them to invest more in future growth and expansion in local communities. Most importantly, this would be fair for every working Alabamian.
In this economy, we could all use a little more money in our pockets. That’s how we can afford
some eggs for breakfast without having to take out a loan. That’s how we beat “Egg-conomic”
uncertainty.
