A bill proposing the exemption of state sales tax on retail foods was heard by the Senate on Wednesday.
Senate Bill 1017, sponsored by Sen. Patty Lewis, D-Kansas City, would exempt SNAP-eligible food from the current 1% tax rate on all retail food items. Retail food includes food items that are not immediately consumed after purchase.
The bill would only eliminate state sales tax, allowing local taxes to be left up to the jurisdiction of counties, Lewis said to the Senate Committee on Economic and Workforce Development.
Missouri is one of 10 states to tax groceries, something that Lewis said has led several of her constituents in Kansas City to travel across state lines to Kansas for grocery shopping.
Lewis said the bill is designed to help provide relief to working-class Missouri families in response to the 3.1% increase in food prices in 2025, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“I just want to help every Missourian put a little bit of money back in their pocketbooks,” Lewis said. “And you know, with grocery prices rising, I think this is a good solution.”
Curtis Wichmer, a representative of the Missouri Catholic Conference, expressed his support for the bill’s goal to lower prices on essential goods.
“We’ve been in favor of previous measures for cost-cutting for basic necessities,” he said. “And I can’t think of a more necessary item than food for families.”
Tyler Travers, a registered lobbyist for Missouri Appleseed, also voiced his support for the bill. Travers said eliminating the tax will allow Missouri families to become healthier.
“One of the best ways to create a healthy family is to put affordable food on the table,” Travers said.
If passed, Missouri would join Illinois and Arkansas as the most recent states to eliminate state sales taxes on groceries.