The Alabama Senate has refused for the second time to begin debate on a bill to remove the state sales tax on groceries.

Democratic state Sen. Hank Sanders of Selma tried to get the bill up for debate Thursday. But he fell one vote short of the three-fifths majority needed to begin debate. Sanders made a similar effort April 30 and fell three votes short. Sanders said he plans to try again before the legislative session ends.

The bill is a proposed constitutional amendment. It would remove the state's 4 percent sales tax on groceries and it would raise the threshold where a family of starts paying the state income tax from $12,600 to $20,000. The bill would replace the lost revenue by eliminating the state income tax deduction for federal taxes paid.

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