Gov. Pritzker’s grocery tax shuffle – Wirepoints

By: Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner

This week Palatine became the latest Illinois city to pass a 1% local grocery tax in anticipation of the statewide tax expiring in 2026. Palatine follows Highland, Normal, Pekin, Martinsville, Danville and others in passing a local 1% grocery tax.

As we’ve watched the list grow, it’s reminded us of something that shouldn’t be left unsaid: Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s elimination of the statewide grocery tax was little more than an attention-getting stunt. He says he’s canceled the tax, but all he did was shuffle the impact to somewhere else.

Think for a second about what Illinoisans were supposed to believe when they read or heard Gov. Pritzker’s comments about eliminating the grocery tax.

“Eliminating the grocery tax is just one of the ways we’re delivering real relief to families. By removing this burden, we’re ensuring that Illinoisans keep more of their hard-earned money while tackling the cost of essentials.”

“Even with inflation cooling off, every dollar counts, so I’m proud we’re doing what we can to make trips to the grocery store a little easier. It’s one more important part of lifting the burden on Illinois families.”

“We eliminated the state sales tax on groceries, which helps every Illinoisan deal with the effects of higher prices in the checkout line and keeps food on the table.”

Sounds good, right? You’d be forgiven for thinking that Pritzker is looking after struggling Illinoisans by getting rid of a regressive tax – that he’s willing to cut taxes and take the revenue hit to help Illinoisans out.

But that’s really not true.

First of all, the grocery tax revenues Pritzker cut belong to local cities and counties across Illinois, and not to the state. So when he cut the tax, he created a mess for local governments. They now have to deal with large, unexpected holes in their budgets. That means they have to either cut local services or hike taxes. 

Pritzker’s state budget, meanwhile, didn’t take a hit.  

What’s even worse is the “real relief to families” is already being unwound. You don’t hear Pritzker bragging about it, but he and his Democratic supermajority also voted to give cities the power to impose their own grocery tax – without having to ask local voters for permission. So cities are now re-raising grocery taxes and other taxes to fill the budget holes Pritzker caused. 

Effectively, Pritzker robbed Illinois cities of their revenues and then bragged about helping Illinois families, all the while making it easy for cities to hike their own tax and unwind the impact of the cut. 

The way the governor describes it, he’s the hero. And to local Illinoisans, the city leaders that are raising their taxes look like the villains.

Of course, in the broader sense, it’s good that the highly regressive state grocery tax was eliminated. And we hope that many local government leaders will stomach the loss rather than create their own tax. But this is Illinois, and that’s unlikely.

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The governor’s focus on a 1% tax is a distraction from delivering real relief to Illinois families.

Instead, he should be unwinding the gas tax he doubled in 2019 – which pushed that tax to the second-highest in the nation. And he should finally deliver on his 2020 promise to lower property taxes – which continue their upward trajectory and remain the highest in the nation.

Actual cuts, not shuffles. 

Read more from Wirepoints:

• Pritzker admin’s past and future spending excesses mean $23 billion in upcoming deficits
• Pritzker’s new budgets forecast $3 billion to $5 billion deficits, make property tax relief from millionaire-tax ballot referendum unlikely
• Don’t look now, but here come the tax hikes on Illinoisans
• Illinois’ Gov. Pritzker delivers Democrats’ national economic pitch at DNC. A look at his own record is revealing.