Governor Bill Haslam signed a bill that cuts the Tennessee grocery tax this afternoon.
And he came to a small town in our neck of the woods for the ceremony.
News 12's Nordia Epps takes us to Smith Brothers Grocery in Marion County for the story.
Folks in Whitwell can't remember the last time a sitting governor paid them a visit.
Governor Bill Haslam, "I just had one big mystery solved though. Everybody kept walking up to me and saying you're the best Governor that's been here in a long long time and then the mayor let the secret out that I'm the only one that's been here in a while(laughter)."
Governor Bill Haslam changed that Monday.
Nordia Epps, "This is kind of exciting huh?"
Jennifer Smith, Smith Brothers Grocery, It's quite an honor for us to be chosen for him to come to Whitwell and to Smith Brothers Grocery to sign this bill."
Billy Joe Smith, Smith Brothers Grocery, "I think it's great for Whitwell for this small town of 1800 population here in the city. It's great."
Gov. Haslam, "Thanks to this you'll now pay a little less sales tax on your groceries (applause)."
The Governor stopped by Smith Brothers for the ceremonial signing of the grocery tax reduction bill.
Governor Haslam, "This is a significant day for Tennessee. This is one tax that almost every Tennessean pays. The fact that we're able to cut it a quarter percent this year and another quarter percent next year I think is significant. While it won't help everyone a lot, it does help everyone some and I think that's an important first step. "
Virginia Taylor, "That's marvelous."
That means Virginia Taylor would save about 15 cents on her 63 dollar grocery bill.
Taylor, "That will be great. That's great. Everybody needs every penny they can save."
It's enough savings to spark some excitement here.
"You get so fooled by the 14 ounces instead of a pound the amount of cereal in a box, everything is downsized but the price is either the same or going up. Most definitely, it's going to help all around."
Over the governor and his message.
The reduced tax rate does not apply to prepared foods such as a meal at a restaurant, candy, alcoholic beverages or tobacco.
