According to the proposed FY 2025 Illinois budget, Governor J.B. Pritzker will eliminate the one-percent tax on groceries. He stated, “Removing the tax will be for the good of our state’s working families.”  He added, “It is one more regressive tax we don’t need.  It reduces inflation for families from four percent to three percent even if only puts a few hundred bucks back in families’ pockets.”  Illinois is among 13 states imposing a tax on grocery purchases.  State taxes range from a high of seven percent in Mississippi to 1.2 percent in Missouri.  With the exception of Hawaii at four percent, all states imposing a tax on groceries are regarded as “red states”.

The Illinois Policy Institute noted that 70 percent of respondents to a poll were in favor of eliminating the tax that is borne disproportionately by low-income families.