A pair of bills making their way through the Legislature aim to turn the clock on the state sales tax back to 2008.

Bills filed by Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr and state Rep. Marc Lombardo would reduce the state sales tax from its current rate of 6.25% back to the 5% charged about 16 years ago.

The bills, both bearing a title along the lines of “An Act relative to lowering the sales tax to 5%” were the subject of a Joint Committee on Revenue hearing on Monday along with about 40 other bills dealing with sales and excise taxes.

According to Brian Shortsleeve, a former Baker Administration official who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, the idea makes a lot of sense in the current economic climate.

“Massachusetts families are being crushed by inflation, rising costs,

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