Poll: 70% of Illinois voters support ending grocery tax permanently

Repealing the state grocery tax has support from 7 in 10 Illinois voters, according to an Illinois Policy Institute poll. Illinois is one of just 13 states with a grocery tax.

Eliminating Illinois’ grocery tax has the backing of 7 in 10 Illinois voters, according to a new poll.

The poll showed 70% of 800 Illinois voters supported repealing the state grocery tax. It was conducted June 26-29 by Echelon Insights for the Illinois Policy Institute.

Suspending the tax for a year saved shoppers $360 million when Gov. J.B. Pritzker suspended it from July 1, 2022, until July 1, 2023. It just resumed, so Illinois is again one of 13 states with a grocery tax and the only one among the 10 most populous states.

Inflation was Pritzker’s primary reason for the temporary relief, but food prices are still on the rise. From May 2022 to May 2023, the consumer price index for groceries rose 5.8%. The rate for 2023 is predicted to land between 4.5-7.4% by the end of the year.

When two-thirds of the country sees no need to tax people in the grocery line, why does Illinois? The state just spent a year proving it could live without the tax.