Republicans are urging for their plan to be considered in the ongoing debate over eliminating Illinois’ 1% grocery tax.
In 2022, the legislature took action to tackle the issue of high inflation by completely eliminating the 1% grocery tax for a duration of 12 months. This year, Governor J.B. Pritzker aims to permanently abolish the tax, but local governments are concerned about the potential impact of a $375 million loss in revenue. On Tuesday, Pritzker presented his proposal to address this concern.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker mentioned that the possibility of communities reinstating the tax on food will be discussed in the General Assembly. However, he personally does not recommend it as he believes taxing food is not appropriate.
State Senator Don DeWitte, a Republican from St. Charles, expressed his concern in 2022 regarding how the governor and Democrats planned to compensate for the revenue shortfall for local governments.
According to DeWitte, $323 million holds immense value as it encompasses the salaries of police officers, firefighters, and the funding for various public works projects in municipalities.
According to DeWitte, the governor and Democrats are disregarding his bill, which aims to compensate for the decline in local revenue by using the withheld portion of the state’s income tax through the Local Government Distributive Fund.
Lawmakers must pass a spending plan by the end of May, which includes determining the course of action regarding the grocery tax.
According to Pritzker, the intention behind this initiative is not to tackle the issue of higher grocery bills. Instead, it aims to support grocers who are facing difficulties.
According to Pritzker, the initiative has shown success in locations like Kansas. However, if it proves to be ineffective in Illinois, he stated that they might consider discontinuing it.
He expressed his viewpoint, stating, “If it fails to yield positive results, we will likely retract our efforts. However, in the event of success, we will wholeheartedly commit to it.”
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker expressed his concern about the state’s financial burden in supporting unsuccessful ventures. He emphasized that it is not the responsibility of the state to continuously back initiatives that are ineffective. Pritzker made these remarks on Tuesday, highlighting the importance of avoiding a losing proposition for both the state and its taxpayers.
According to DeWitte, he acknowledges the value of the grocery initiative in tackling the challenge of providing quality food to consumers in rural and urban areas where maintaining a grocery store can be challenging.
