NASHVILLE – Senate and House Democrats have called on Republican Gov. Bill Haslam to call a special legislative session and use state surpluses to offset college tuition hikes and further reduce the sales tax on groceries.
“The money is there,” Senate Minority Leader Jim Kyle, D-Memphis, said at a news conference Wednesday. “The issue on the table is what are we going to do with the taxpayers’ money? Are we going to help the folks who are trying to go to school, who are buying food, or are we going to hold it?”
He labeled the scheduled tuition increase a tax increase on students and their families.
Democrats voted with the Republican-controlled Legislature this year to reduce the tax from 5.5 percent to 5.25 percent. Democrats unsuccessfully argued the cut should have been deeper. Cutting the sales tax on groceries by a penny would cost about $85 million annually.
Democrats say state revenues so far this fiscal year are about $225 million above earlier estimates. They want to use $78 million to offset planned tuition increases that the University of Tennessee system is expected to approve today. The Tennessee Board of Regents system will vote on similar increases next week.