Republican Lawmakers Petition for Special Session to Stop Democrat Grocery Tax, Ask Democrats to Join Them

Today, Senate and House Republicans called on Democrat lawmakers to join them in signing a petition to call the legislature into a special legislative session to stop the grocery tax contained in the Democrat state budget set to go into effect October 1, 2019.

Despite Democrats’ claims that a special session is not needed to stop the tax, a special session is the only way to change the law and protect taxpayers from this tax.

“Though the Governor has called on the Department of Revenue Services to re-interpret Public Act 19-117 and to issue a Policy Statement to supersede Policy Statement 2019(5), such executive action is incomplete and inadequate. Moreover, it is a dangerous precedent to set to allow legislation to be reinterpreted during closed-door meetings of the executive branch,” Republican leaders wrote to Democrat legislative leaders today.

Republican lawmakers have also said that changing the law in a special session before October 1, 2019 is the only way to ensure the tax policy is clear not only today, but for all future years to come under future legislatures and governors.

Lawmakers can call themselves into a special session of the General Assembly by submitting petitions to the Secretary of the State. A majority of lawmakers in both the Senate and House of Representatives (50% of lawmakers plus one in each chamber) must submit petitions.

Click to view the petition and a letter sent by Republican legislative leaders to Democrat legislative leaders.