Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels believes voters will not be happy with Republicans if they block his effort to extend the tax cut on overtime pay in the Yellowhammer State.

On Tuesday, the Alabama House of Representatives passed a series of tax cut bills aimed at providing financial relief to residents by reducing taxes on groceries, retirement income, and state income taxes.

Daniels supported those cuts but argued that the $192 million tax cut package is not a good replacement for the overtime pay tax cut.

“The difference between putting money in the pocket of Alabamians and just cutting taxes and not having a way to rebuild that particular tax revenue…we’re talking about the grocery tax,” Daniels (D-Huntsville) said at a Business Council of Alabama meeting Tuesday. “You’ll excuse my French but who the hell is going to miss one cent on the dollar? I mean, let’s be real. It’s a good talking point.”

Daniels explained why he believes the tax cut on overtime put more money in the hands of workers in the state.

“I understand that but we’re talking about putting money, real dollars, in the pockets of hardworking Alabamians that have given us 5% of their first 40 hours,” he said. “So, they’re going over and beyond to make companies more profitable and the numbers are there.”

If Daniel’s bill extending the tax cut doesn’t pass this session, those cuts will end on June 30, 2025. That means most of that overtime work will once again be taxed at 5%.

The minority leader said Republicans will then have to tell their constituents why they decided to essentially raise taxes on many hard-working Alabamians.

“For me, it makes no sense to allow this piece of legislation to sunset,” he argued. “If it sunsets, you’re talking about a $230 million on average tax increase going into an election year. Good luck with that.”

Daniels noted that even President Donald Trump understands how not taxing overtime work can spur economic growth.

“I think that’s why the president talked about it when he was running for office,” he said, “and talked about how you know when economists said that by doing this it’s going to explode the economy and increase profit margins like you’ve never seen before and make people more happy to go the extra mile and it provides for them and their families.”

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee