MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WHNT) — A bill pre-filed for Alabama’s upcoming legislative session would allow municipalities to reduce or entirely opt out of local taxes on food.

Alabama is one of just three states to tax groceries at the state’s normal sales tax rate. The other two are Mississippi and South Dakota.

The bill, pre-filed by Rep. Chris England (D-Tuscaloosa), would provide some relief in that area.

England’s bill states counties currently do not have the authority to “establish a reduced sales tax rate for individual items or exempt items from local sales and use tax.” If passed into law, the bill would “authorize the governing body of a municipality to reduce or eliminate its local sales and use tax rate on food.”

The only requirements for reducing or eliminating that local tax would be a public hearing and approval from the local governing body. However, the state sales tax would still apply.

Read the bill’s full text here.

Previous attempts to eliminate Alabama’s grocery tax have failed. As recently as 2022, lawmakers introduced two bills to cut the grocery tax, including one that would’ve done without a method to recoup the $500 million in revenue from it.