Pritzker’s repeal of the Illinois Grocery Tax is a shell game that burdens local governments
Many politicians lie but the wealthiest ones who buy themselves into public office seem to lie and exaggerate the most, as Gov. J.B. Pritzker does in spinning the truth about repealing the Grocery Tax
By Ray Hanania
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has improved his image considerably, becoming a powerful voice challenging the insane actions of President Donald J. Trump.
But like all super-wealthy politicians who buy their way into big government positions, Pritzker is not being so honest.
Pritzker is paying for slick TV Ads to promote himself as he navigates to position himself to become a candidate for U.S. President.
And he is spinning the truth about how he “repealed” the State Grocery Tax, which was imposed in 1990, to make himself look good.
In his pre-campaign TV Ads, Pritzker boasts that he repealed the Illinois grocery tax.
Here is the text of Pritzker’s slick “Grocery Tax Ad,” which is replaying over and over again on all of the major TV channels, clearly to create a foundation for his intended presidential election campaign:
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Our economy is great. We don’t have inflation. People are happy. People are wealthy. They say costs are up. No, no, costs are down.
TAXPAYER: All the prices have gone up.
TAXPAYER: Average guy can’t afford to do anything.
GOV. PRITZKER: People are getting squeezed, and no one should pretend otherwise. In Illinois, we’re working to lower costs, eliminating the state tax on groceries, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, and cutting taxes on working families.
TAXPAYER: JB understands what we’re going through.
TAXPAYER: And JB’s doing something about it.
Click this link to watch the video of the Ad here:
The Ad sounds great, and Pritzker is right about one thing in it that Trump is lying about the great things he has done to improve the economy. In fact, the economy continues to worsen.
But Pritzker has not helped improve the economy at all, and Illinois remains one of the worst states when it comes to taxes and many other services, or lack of services for taxpayers.
The Illinois Grocery Tax was a One Percent sales tax that applied to food for home consumption (non-prepared food) and was intended to ease the tax burden on Illinois municipalities, villages, and cities. All of the taxes collected under the “grocery Tax” went to the communities where the sales were made.
In other words, the One Percent Grocery Tax was designed to help local communities. It was officially eliminated on January 1, 2026, under Public Act 103-0781, creating huge budget holes in the millions for many municipalities.
Under Pritzker’s repeal, he allowed the local municipalities to reimpose the One Percent Grocery Tax locally on their residents to take the tax burden off of candidate Pritzker’s shoulders and put it on the backs of local officials.
Since its repeal, more than 650 municipalities have been forced to reinstate the One Percent Grocery Tax locally on their residents.
For example, Orland Park was one of the 650-plus municipalities that were forced to reimpose the “Pritzker Shell Game Tax” or face losing up to $3 million in revenues that the village needs to cover existing services.
Chicago lost $80 million in revenues. Springfield lost more than $5.4 million in revenue. Rockford lost more than $4.6 million.
Home rule municipalities could implement the tax locally without a vote, and non-home rule municipalities must get voters’ approval to re-implement it. Those who don’t will lose millions, and it will result in significantly reduced local services.
Local mayors had no choice under Priztker’s Grocery Tax Repeal shell game.
That’s a political shell game, not a benefit that Pritzker should get credit for.
Illinois frequently ranks among the worst states for its high tax burden (particularly property taxes), fiscal instability, and poor business climate, often cited as having one of the nation’s worst pension crises. It also faces extreme racial economic inequality and a poor legal climate, contributing to significant out-migration of residents.
Instead of hurting the municipalities that relied on that one percent State Grocery Tax, Pritzker could have blocked other taxes that he quietly approved, and that you won’t see on any of his upcoming pre-campaign TV Ads.
Illinois passed a $55.1 billion budget for fiscal year 2026, including roughly $700 million in new revenue through increased taxes on sports betting, tobacco products, and corporations. Major changes effective July 1, 2025, include higher cigarette/vape taxes, a new per-wager tax, and increased telecommunications taxes.
According to the Illinois Policy Institute and other organizations and media, here is a rundown of MANY (not all) of the key new tax changes in Illinois (effective on July 1, 2025, and January 1, 2026):
Tobacco and Nicotine Tax: The wholesale tax on tobacco products, including vapes and nicotine pouches, increases from 36% to 45%.
Sports Betting Tax: Online sports betting companies will face a graduated tax, charging 25 cents per wager for the first 20 million wagers and 50 cents after.
Telecommunications Tax: The tax on intrastate telecommunications rises from 7% to 8.65% to fund the 9-8-8 suicide lifeline.
Hotel/Short-Term Rental Tax: The state hotel operator’s tax is expanded to include more short-term rental platforms, requiring them to collect the tax.
Corporate Tax Increases: Changes include tighter restrictions on interest deductions, stricter “throwback” rules for sales, and increased tax on foreign profits, primarily affecting out-of-state businesses.
Gas Tax: The motor fuel tax increased on July 1, 2025, to 48.3 cents per gallon.
Grocery Tax Changes (Effective Jan 1, 2026): The 1% state grocery tax is eliminated, but municipalities are authorized to impose their own 1% local tax, potentially resulting in no net change for consumers.
Paint Care Tax: As of December 1, 2025, Illinois imposes a mandatory Paint Care Fee on all new architectural paint sales to fund a statewide recycling program, of up to $1.95 per container based on size.
These new taxes are added to Illinois’ Sales Tax, which is 6.25 Percent, and to other local taxes that have been imposed by municipalities.
If Pritzker wanted to help taxpayers and position himself to be different from Trump, he should instead address the state’s taxing problems.
That would require that he acknowledge that he has not done a great job as Governor of Illinois, or that admit he really is no different than Donald Trump, whom he and many other Democrats are attacking, hoping they can deflect from their own failures.