Revenue subcommittee rejects broad grocery-tax repeal bills, advances local impact-fee authority and stadium tax district

The Senate Revenue Subcommittee on March 18 considered a slate of revenue measures, issuing mostly negative recommendations on statewide grocery-tax repeal proposals while approving measures that expand local taxing authority for infrastructure and for stadium-site redevelopment.

The committee—meeting in Nashville—voted to send several bills to full finance with negative recommendations, including Senator Oliver’s plan to eliminate the state grocery tax by adopting worldwide combined reporting for multinational corporations and Senator Yarbrough’s proposal for a full grocery-tax repeal. Sponsors and fiscal review disagreed over whether corporate-tax changes would fully replace lost revenue; the fiscal note for SB 25-11 was listed as $410,000,000 if offsets cannot be verified.

Why it matters: lawmakers spent much of the hearing weighing competing priorities—tax relief for consumers versus revenue certainty and administrability. Several sponsors framed proposals as targeted relief for low-income households or small towns, while opponents warned of ad hoc or uneven application and of unquantified fiscal risks.

Key developments

- SB 20-16 (positive recommendation): Chairman Crow’s bill, amended with drafting code 13789, would allow small municipalities that are county seats, have historic districts and lack a school system to adopt developer impact fees for infrastructure. The committee approved the amendment and voted to advance the bill with a positive recommendation (vote reported 4 ayes, 1 no). Senator Crow emphasized infrastructure needs in older towns; Senator Yarbrough pressed for a broader, uniform approach to taxing authority rather than one-off bills.

- SB 26-33 (positive recommendation): Senator Seale’s bill authorizes a local supplemental tax of up to 5% on admissions, lodging, restaurants and similar receipts within a redevelopment district to fund redevelopment of a former stadium site; an amendment (14724) was adopted and the committee voted to advance the bill (5 ayes). The fiscal impact to the state was reported as not determinable in the fiscal note.

- Grocery-tax measures (negative recommendations): Multiple proposals to reduce or eliminate the state portion of the grocery tax were discussed and sent onward with negative recommendations. Senator Oliver’s SB 25-11 (amended, drafting code 15760) would repeal the state 4% grocery tax while proposing worldwide combined reporting to offset revenue; the sponsor cited research suggesting material revenue could be collected from multinational firms, but the fiscal review could not confirm offsets. The committee voted a negative recommendation (vote reported 4 ayes, 1 no). Senator Yarbrough’s full repeal (SB 23-14) and other repeal variants likewise received negative recommendations.

- SB 26-09 (negative recommendation): Senator Sutherland’s amendment (13166) would divert a portion of sales tax collected specifically at Bass Pro Shops to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) (sponsor estimated roughly $2.0–2.1 million); the committee adopted the amendment but voted to issue a negative recommendation (5 ayes as reported).

- SB 17-76 (negative recommendation): Leader Johnson proposed a one-time, four-day sales tax holiday for firearms and ammunition tied to the nation’s 250th anniversary; the committee voted to recommend against the bill (negative recommendation recorded).

Votes at a glance

(All outcomes are the committee’s recorded recommendation to send the bill to full finance or to refer out as noted.)
- SB (Chairman Briggs; professional privilege tax phase-out, amendment 14066): amendment adopted; negative recommendation (referred out). Fiscal note: $23,000,000 year one.
- SB 22-77 (Chairman Briggs; repeal state sales tax on certain food/beverage categories, amendment 14300): amendment adopted; negative recommendation. Fiscal note: $169,000,000.
- SB 24-53 (Chairman Bailey; extend opt-in deadline for commercial development districts to 12/31/2040): negative recommendation (fiscal impact noted but unspecified).
- SB 20-16 (Chairman Crow; permissive impact-fee authority for small historic county seats, amendment 13789): amendment adopted; positive recommendation (4–1).
- SB 17-76 (Leader Johnson; firearm/ammunition sales-tax holiday): negative recommendation (one-time estimated impact cited ~$346,000).
- SB 26-33 (Senator Seale; redevelopment tax district for stadium site, amendment 14724): amendment adopted; positive recommendation (5 ayes).
- SB 26-09 (Senator Sutherland; dedicate Bass Pro sales-tax share to TWRA, amendment 13166): amendment adopted; negative recommendation (reported 5 ayes).
- SB 25-11 (Senator Oliver; repeal grocery tax via worldwide combined reporting, amendment 15760): amendment adopted; negative recommendation (4–1). Fiscal note: could be up to $410,000,000 if offsets not realized.
- SB 23-37 (Speaker Hale/Chairman Kumar plan; exempt defined healthy foods, amendment 015547): amendment adopted; positive recommendation (4–1).
- SB 21-51 (Senator Wally; CDFI tax-credit calculation alignment and expanded eligibility): amendment adopted; negative recommendation (3–2).
- SB 17-02 (Senator Yarbrough; parity for metropolitan governments on local food-tax reductions): positive recommendation (vote recorded 4–1).
- SB 18-29 (Senator Yarbrough; exemption targeted to families eligible for free/reduced lunch): negative recommendation (fiscal note cited ~$320,000,000).
- SB 23-14 (Senator Yarbrough; statewide grocery-tax repeal): negative recommendation (5 ayes reported).

What lawmakers said (selected quotes)

- Chairman Briggs (sponsor): “This eliminates the professional privilege tax over a course of four years.”

- Senator Crow (sponsor, SB 20-16): “This would give these towns… the ability to have these impact fees… to put those dollars toward their infrastructure.”

- Senator Sutherland (SB 26-09): “If we don't fund the emergency services of TWRA, then they can't come and help… I'm just asking for the $2,000,000 coming direct from the revenue that hunters and fishermen generate at Bass Pro only.”

- Senator Oliver (SB 25-11): “This bill eliminates the state tax on groceries by zeroing out the state's 4% rate… and replaces every dollar of that revenue by closing a loophole that allows global corporations to hide profits overseas.”

Context and next steps

Most bills the committee gave negative recommendations to will go to full finance for further consideration; a handful that received positive recommendations will also move forward for additional floor or committee action. Several sponsors noted the fiscal uncertainty in the fiscal notes and said they expect fuller fiscal analysis in the Finance Committee.

Sources and provenance: This account is based exclusively on the committee transcript (Senate Revenue Subcommittee, March 18, 2026). See the meeting timeline for the transcript segments that anchor each topic.