Miss. Considers Slicing Grocery Tax

Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, shown in this March 2, 2007 photograph taken in Jackson, Miss., opposes a proposal to reduce Mississippi's grocery tax and increase cigarette tax bill this session, having vetoed two cigarette-grocery "tax swap" bills in 2006, which lawmakers failed to override. Supported by key lawmakers such as Senate Finance Committee chairman Tommy Robertson, R-Moss Point, right, Barbour might be able nip such proposals in committee. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) (Rogelio V. Solis - AP)

The state's 7 percent grocery tax is the highest in the U.S., according to the Federation of Tax Administrators, a Washington-based research group.

The Mississippi Democratic Party estimates that a family spending $150 a week on groceries would save $273 a year if the grocery tax were cut in half.

Barbour was Republican National Committee chairman from 1993-97, and is widely credited with helping the GOP gain control of Congress in 1994 _ a power advantage the party held until the elections of this past November.

Barbour's name is still mentioned in some circles as a possible vice presidential running mate, but he plays down questions about national ambitions.

"I can't imagine why a Republican candidate for president would choose somebody from Mississippi as his running mate," Barbour said. "Because if a Republican doesn't carry Mississippi for president, he won't carry but about three states."

Some Democratic lawmakers believe Barbour is adamant about opposing tax increases so he'll have a bragging point if he joins the national ticket.

Nunnelee, the Republican chairman of the Senate Public Health Committee, sides with Barbour on many issues but splits on this one. Nunnelee said reducing the grocery tax and boosting the cigarette excise tax are equally beneficial.

"Our citizens smoke and get sick because they smoke much more so than citizens of other states. And I have to believe that in some way that's tied to the fact that we have the third lowest cigarette tax in the nation," Nunnelee said. "But there is a corresponding issue that I think is equally a public health issue, and that's a sales tax on groceries."

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Federation of Tax Administrators: http://www.taxadmin.org