Three of Governor Bill Haslam’s most important bills are heading for the House floor. The bills include the civil service overhaul known as the TEAM Act, a reduction of the sales tax on food, and a measure lowering the inheritance tax. WPLN’s Joe White reports yesterday the House Finance Committee gave all three bills its blessing.
The TEAM Act redefines Tennessee civil service. Added to the bill were earlier notification to employees being laid off, a reapplication process for those laid off if a similar job opens up, and some salary adjustments for job upgrades.
Meanwhile the food tax will be lowered to 5.25 percent. Today on a hundred dollar grocery bill the buyer pays five and a half dollars in state sales tax. Under the new law, the shopper would pay five and a quarter.
The exemption for the inheritance tax was raised to from one million dollars to one and a quarter million. The bill would gradually lift the threshold further before repealing the inheritance tax outright in 2016.
WPLN’s Chelsea Kallman contributed to this report.
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