February 11, 2026
To: Senator Brown and Members, Senate Economic Workforce and Development Committee
From: Amanda Berry, Food Security Policy Manager, Empower Missouri
Re: Support for SB 1239
Empower Missouri is the state’s largest anti-poverty advocacy organization, working across rural and urban communities to advance policies that promote economic stability, affordability, and opportunity for Missouri families. Through our statewide Food Security Coalition, we partner with community organizations, service providers, faith leaders, and policy experts to ensure every Missourian has access to affordable, healthy, and nutritious food.
We are writing in support of SB 1239, which would eliminate the state sales tax on groceries and gradually phase out local sales taxes on food. This legislation represents a meaningful step toward making one of life’s most basic necessities more affordable for Missouri families.
Missouri has already seen the benefits of reducing the grocery tax. In the late 1990s, the legislature reduced the state sales tax on food from 4.225 percent to 1.225 percent. That decision provided meaningful relief, particularly for households with the least flexibility in their budgets. Families with lower incomes spend a significantly larger share of their earnings on food than higher-income households. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey, households in the lowest income quintile spend more than 25 percent of their income on food, compared to less than 5 percent for households in the highest quintile.
Today, more than 750,000 Missourians live below the federal poverty level. For these households, food budgets are already stretched thin. A tax on groceries directly reduces the dollars available for nutritious food, utilities, transportation, and medical care. As food prices and other household costs continue to rise, even a small sales tax on groceries has a disproportionate and unavoidable impact. Eliminating the grocery tax is a targeted way to help families keep more of what they earn without creating new programs or administrative burdens.
Across the country, most states recognize groceries as an essential good and exempt them from sales tax. Only a small number of states still apply a state sales tax to food, and even fewer allow local sales taxes on groceries. Missouri remains one of the states that does both. SB 1239 would bring Missouri in line with the majority of the country and provide consistent, statewide relief for working families, seniors on fixed incomes, and households living paycheck to paycheck.
This issue is especially important in the broader fiscal context facing Missouri. Governor Kehoe has made eliminating the state income tax a top priority. As policymakers consider ways to restructure state revenue, there has been discussion about increasing reliance on sales taxes and expanding them to new areas. Sales taxes are widely recognized as regressive, meaning they take a larger share of income from lower-income households than from higher-income households. It is important that, as Missouri evaluates long-term tax policy, we do not increase the tax burden on basic necessities like food. Eliminating the grocery tax helps protect families from the regressive impacts of broader tax shifts and ensures that tax policy does not make it harder to afford essentials.
This proposal also aligns with the state’s growing emphasis on health, prevention, and self-sufficiency. Access to healthy food is one of the most important drivers of long-term health outcomes. When nutritious food is more affordable, families are better able to make healthy choices, which supports lower health care costs and stronger communities over time. Making food more affordable is a prevention-focused approach that supports long-term fiscal stability.
We also want to acknowledge the concerns that have historically accompanied proposals to eliminate the grocery tax, particularly regarding the impact on education funding and local government revenues. These are important considerations, and we agree that both education and local services must remain strong and stable. However, we believe that funding for schools and essential local services should not rely on taxing basic necessities. Missouri can and should explore alternative, sustainable revenue solutions that do not place the burden on families simply trying to put food on the table.
SB 1239 takes a responsible approach by gradually phasing out local sales taxes on food over several years. This timeline provides communities with time to plan and adjust while still moving the state toward a policy that treats groceries as the essential items they are.
Eliminating the grocery tax is a practical, fiscally responsible way to support Missouri families. When basic necessities are affordable, families are more financially stable, more productive, and less likely to face crises that lead to higher downstream public costs. Keeping taxes off essential goods strengthens household budgets, supports local businesses, and promotes long-term economic resilience without expanding government programs.
For these reasons, Empower Missouri strongly supports SB 1239 and respectfully urges the committee to advance this legislation. This policy would provide meaningful relief to Missouri families, support long-term health and economic stability, and ensure that our tax system does not place unnecessary burdens on those least able to afford them.
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