OPINION: It’s time to cut the grocery tax. Vote Blue.

There is something fundamentally wrong with a government that celebrates its fiscal conservatism while continuing to tax families for the simple act of putting food on the dinner table.

Across Tennessee, working families are confronting an affordability crisis that has made the ordinary necessities of life increasingly difficult to afford. Groceries, housing, utilities, insurance, and healthcare continue to consume a growing share of household budgets. For many Tennesseans, the question is no longer how much they can save at the end of the month, but how much they can afford to spend before the next paycheck arrives.

Yet Tennessee remains among a shrinking minority of states that continue to impose a sales tax on groceries. Our state levies a 4 percent tax on qualifying food purchases, with additional local sales taxes often pushing that burden higher. Tennessee’s combined state and average local general sales tax is 9.61%, which is the second highest rate in the country. 

Think about what that means. A mother buying milk and bread for her children pays a tax for the privilege. A senior citizen living on a fixed income pays a tax on the groceries necessary to sustain themselves. A working family already stretched thin by rising costs pays a tax simply to put dinner on the table.

This is not sound fiscal policy. It is a failure of priorities.

For years, Tennessee Republicans have enjoyed virtually unchecked control of state government. And what has that political monopoly delivered for the working people of this state? According to a recent United for ALICE report, more than 1.1 million Tennessee households, approximately 41 percent of the state’s households, struggle to afford basic necessities. These are not simply households living below the poverty line. They include hundreds of thousands of working Tennesseans who earn too much to qualify for assistance but too little to afford the basic costs of living. In fact, 42 percent of full-time workers in Tennessee do not earn enough to support even a modest household consisting of one adult and one school age child. These figures ought to give pause to anyone celebrating Tennessee’s supposed economic prosperity. Prosperity that fails to reach the kitchen tables of working families is prosperity in name only. And after years of one-party rule, those responsible for governing this state can no longer escape accountability for the conditions under which so many Tennesseans struggle to make ends meet.

And the contradiction extends well beyond Nashville.

In Washington, the Republican Party that once fashioned itself as the guardian of fiscal restraint now presides over a federal government running annual deficits approaching $2 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the federal deficit reached approximately $2 trillion in fiscal year 2026, an increase of more than $200 billion from the previous year.

These are staggering figures, and they represent a level of fiscal indiscipline that should concern every American, regardless of political affiliation. Republicans have long lectured the country about the dangers of excessive spending and irresponsible government. Yet when entrusted with the responsibility of governing, those familiar declarations of fiscal restraint have too often given way to political expediency.

The American people deserve better than a government that preaches thrift to working families while failing to exercise discipline with the public purse.

Here in Tennessee, we have an opportunity to demonstrate what a different set of priorities might look like.

Eliminating the state grocery tax would not solve every financial challenge facing Tennessee families. It would not reverse years of inflation, lower mortgage rates, or immediately bring down the cost of healthcare. But it would provide meaningful, recurring relief on purchases that no family can avoid. It would also send an unmistakable message that the needs of ordinary Tennesseans deserve a place at the center of our political conversation.

The Democratic Party believes that government ought to concern itself first and foremost with the issues discussed around kitchen tables across this state. Whether a family can afford groceries. Whether a parent can obtain quality healthcare for a sick child. Whether a young couple can afford their first home. Whether a senior citizen can retire with dignity after a lifetime of work.

These are not abstract ideological questions. They are the daily concerns of the people Tennessee politicians are elected to serve.

And they are not exclusively Democratic or Republican concerns.

Our communities are filled with decent, hardworking people who hold different political beliefs but share remarkably similar hopes for their families. Political affiliation does not determine whether someone struggles with a grocery bill, worries about an insurance premium, or feels the weight of an uncertain economic future.

The Madison County Democratic Party welcomes every voter who believes government should be accountable, responsible, and attentive to the needs of ordinary people. That invitation extends to independents, lifelong Democrats, and those who have historically voted Republican. No one should have to abandon their convictions or apologize for their political history to participate in a serious conversation about the future of our community.

We can disagree about national politics without surrendering our common interest in building a more affordable and prosperous Tennessee.

The measure of good government is not how loudly its leaders proclaim their principles, but how faithfully those principles are reflected in the lives of the people they serve.

It is time for Tennessee to put working families ahead of political complacency. It is time to bring meaningful relief to the grocery aisle, restore accountability to government, and return our attention to the kitchen table issues that matter most.

It is time to cut the grocery tax. And it is time to demand a government that puts people first.

Kyle Lusby is the chair of the Madison County Democratic Party. Letters to the editor and guest columns are encouraged as a venue for readers to voice their opinions on local matters or the occasional state or national matter. Letters can be e-mailed to jksnpost@gmail.com.