Editorials

About a week ago, word arrived that Gov. Bob Riley was proposing a compromise that might get the then-stalled grocery tax removal effort back on track in our Legislature.

His plan would reduce the state grocery sales tax from 4 percent to 1 percent, gradually raise the state income tax annual threshold to $15,500, expand access to health insurance and, using a sliding scale, cut back the federal income tax deduction.

As this process has progressed, this page has believed the governor's proposal had merit and that both sides should rally to it. There's also been hope that those involved in these Goat Hill discussions would agree to remove the grocery sales tax entirely. It's also been obvious that there was smoke and mirrors in the way Riley planned to eliminate the federal tax deduction.

Unfortunately, Riley apparently never got together with the parties involved — at least not with Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery, who is the sponsor of the bill at which the governor's office said the compromise was aimed.

Thus, there was no compromise. The governor's plan was simply a counter-proposal, which without input from the other side should be withdrawn.

And yet, with only one day left in this legislative session — Monday — the governor has gone on the road to tout his proposal.

All things considered, Riley should have stayed home.

The Knight bill is a model of simplicity. It removes the grocery sales tax, raises the income tax annual threshold to $20,000, and pays for the lost revenue by doing away with a federal income tax deduction that is insignificant to all but the most affluent Alabamians.

More important, once approved by voters, the Knight plan will go into effect quickly, in time to make a real difference for recession-battered middle- and lower-income voters.

The governor's plan, though it has its merits, is complex. With the addition of controversial issues — such as a return to 4-year property tax reappraisals — it is likely to tie the Legislature in tangential debates that with only one day left in the session could kill the whole initiative.

That's what some in the governor's party surely are hoping will happen. Given the way Riley has handled this, one cannot help but believe that is his goal, as well.

Therefore, legislators should ignore this last-minute effort by the governor and approve the Knight bill as it is written. It is time.