Shortly after their election, the divide between Chandler and Laffoon widened over the issue of implementing a state sales tax. Laffoon favored the tax, but Chandler opposed it. As presiding officer of the State Senate, Chandler worked with House Speaker John Y. Brown, Sr., to block passage of the tax. In retaliation, Laffoon's allies in the Kentucky General Assembly stripped Chandler of some of his statutory power as lieutenant governor, and they were then able to pass the tax by a single vote in each house of the legislature.