Governor Butch Otter isn’t budging when it comes to the idea of removing Idaho’s 6 percent sales tax from groceries.

Governor Otter spoke at the Associated Taxpayers of Idaho annual conference in Boise Wednesday.

The Spokesman-Review reports the governor told the audience that he hopes we don’t have to go through what we went through last year, because he feels very certain that the grocery tax is the most stable and predictable state revenue source we have.

Otter’s strong statement on the grocery tax got mixed reviews from top legislative leaders who were in the audience.

Last year, lawmakers passed legislation to remove the grocery tax – by a two-thirds margin – and the governor vetoed it.

Lawmakers sued, ending up before the Idaho Supreme Court, but failed to get the veto overturned.