World
Groceries around the country remain expensive. That's why more states want to stop taxing them
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The number of states imposing sales taxes on groceries has shrunk over the years, and the number may decrease further in the coming months as lawmakers hear complaints about high prices for eggs and other household staples.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday unveiled the details of her proposal to eradicate the remaining 1/8th of a cent sales tax the state levies on groceries. Lawmakers in Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama and are also calling for grocery-tax reductions.
The efforts come as states face uncertainty about their budgets because of cuts in Medicaid and other federal programs being eyed by Republicans in Washington. But supporters of the tax cuts are citing headlines about soaring egg prices as the reason they are needed now.
“We’re getting rid of Arkansas’ most regressive tax and giving a helping hand to those who need it the most,” Sanders, a Republican, said at a news conference to discuss the proposal.
The number of states taxing groceries has decreased in recent years, with laws eliminating the state levy taking effect in Oklahoma and Kansas over the last year. A law eliminating Virginia’s tax on groceries took effect in 2023. A law eliminating Illinois’ 1% grocery tax is set to take effect next year.
State sales taxes are levied on groceries in nine states: Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, South Dakota, Tennessee and Utah. Hawaii and Idaho offer tax credits to residents to help offset the tax, though.
In Tennessee, Republican legislative leaders have proposed abolishing the state’s 4% sales tax on groceries. The legislation comes after the state’s handful of Democratic lawmakers have unsuccessfully introduced similar proposals as they argue that Tennesseans are paying as much as 6.75% in sales tax on essentials like bread and milk in some areas with local sales taxes.
However, it is unclear how far even a GOP-backed bill will fare in Republican-dominant Tennessee. State revenues are expected to be tighter this year, and Gov. Bill Lee didn’t include a cut in his proposed budget, nor did he include a grocery sales tax holiday that has typically been included in his legislative priorities.
House Majority Leader William Lamberth, one of the sponsors of the repeal, said the bill could be narrowed down to only apply to essentials hitting people’s pocketbooks the hardest rather than junk foods.
“Milk, eggs, bread, I mean, that’s a great place to start,” Lamberth said.
Alabama Democratic lawmakers plan to introduce tax cut legislation that will include eliminating the state’s remaining 3% grocery tax. Lawmakers in 2023 approved legislation to gradually drop it from 4% to 2%.
Democrats said families need relief.
“If we’re serious about helping working people get ahead, the best and most impactful way to do that is to take less in taxes and give them some peace of mind when they pay the rent or go to the grocery store,” Democratic Rep. Adline Clarke said in a news release.
Lawmakers have for decades have discussed removing the tax, but the proposals never came to fruition because of the loss it would cause to education funding.
A tax cut package moving its way through the Mississippi legislature would cut that state’s 7% sales tax on groceries.
Other grocery tax cut proposals have run into obstacles. South Dakota voters last year rejected a ballot measure that would have repealed the state’s grocery tax.
Arkansas had all but eliminated the grocery tax under Sanders’ predecessors, Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe and Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson. All that remains is the 1/8th sales tax that’s applied under a voter-approved constitutional amendment for outdoors programs.
Eliminating that will cost Arkansas nearly $11 million a year, a figure Sanders said the programs can absorb.
Reducing or getting rid of grocery taxes can make a state’s tax system less regressive, but it comes at a time that states face the potential of additional costs because of federal budget cuts.
States could instead look at other cuts such as earned income tax credits or child care tax credits, said Aidan Davis, state policy director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
“If the goal is to make sure people can make ends meet, then I think doing it in a more targeted way makes a lot of sense,” Davis said.
___
Associated Press writers Kimberlee Kruesi in Nashville, Tennessee, and Kimberly Chandler in Montgomery, Alabama, contributed to this report
World
Remains recovered of US soldier who went missing in military exercises in Morocco, 2nd soldier still missing
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The remains of a U.S. Army officer who went missing during military exercises in Morocco were recovered from the Atlantic Ocean, while the search continues for a second missing soldier, according to military officials.
The remains of 1st Lt. Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., 27, of Richmond, Virginia, were recovered Saturday, U.S. Army Europe and Africa announced Sunday. Key, a 14A Air Defense Artillery officer, was one of two U.S. soldiers who reportedly fell from a cliff during an off-duty recreational hike near the Cap Draa Training Area on May 2.
A Moroccan military search team found Key in the water along the shoreline at about 8:55 a.m. local time Saturday, roughly one mile from where both soldiers reportedly entered the ocean, the Army said.
“Today, we mourn the loss of 1st Lt. Kendrick Key, whose remains were recovered in Morocco,” Brig. Gen Curtis King, commanding general of the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, said in a statement. “Our hearts are with his Family, friends, teammates, and all who knew and served alongside him. The 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command Family is grieving, and we will continue to support one another and 1st Lt. Key’s Family as we honor his life and service.”
LONG-LOST SOLDIER’S GRAVE DISCOVERED AT REMOTE US NATIONAL PARK AFTER 150 YEARS
The remains of 1st Lt. Kendrick Lamont Key Jr. were recovered. (U.S. Army Europe and Africa)
Key and the second soldier were reported missing on May 2 after participating in African Lion, an annual multinational military exercise hosted across Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal.
The two were reported missing around 9 p.m. near the Cap Draa Training Area outside Tan-Tan, a terrain featuring mountains, desert and semi-desert plains, the Moroccan military said.
The disappearance of the two soldiers led to a search-and-rescue mission involving more than 600 personnel from the U.S., Morocco and other military partners. Ships, helicopters and drones were deployed as part of this operation.
Search efforts will continue for the second missing soldier.
PENTAGON HONORS AMERICAN TROOPS KILLED IN OPERATION EPIC FURY: ‘NEVER BE FORGOTTEN’
The two soldiers were reported missing after participating in African Lion, an annual multinational military exercise held in Morocco. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)
A U.S. contingent remained in Morocco after the military exercises ended on Friday to provide command and control and to support the ongoing search and rescue mission.
Key was assigned to Charlie Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, according to the Army.
His decorations include the Army Achievement Medal and Army Service Ribbon.
He entered military service in 2023 as an officer candidate and earned his commission through Officer Candidate School the following year as an Air Defense Artillery officer. He later completed the Basic Officer Leader Course at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Key is survived by his parents, his sister and his brother-in-law.
Search efforts will continue for the second missing soldier. (Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
African Lion 26 is a U.S.-led exercise that began in April across Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal, with more than 5,600 civilian and military personnel from more than 40 nations.
For more than 20 years, it has been the largest U.S. joint military exercise in Africa.
In 2012, two U.S. Marines were killed, and two others injured during an MV-22 Osprey crash near Cap Draa while participating in Exercise African Lion.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Live updatesLive updates,
US president says Tehran’s response to US peace proposal ‘unacceptable’, as the Iranian military warns it is ready if war resumes.
Published On 11 May 2026
World
Tucker Carlson on ‘SNL’ Critiques the Met Gala and Slams the ‘Michael’ Movie for Ignoring ‘The Part When He Was a White Man’
What are we doing? Come on. Is this who we are now? “Saturday Night Live” featured player Jeremy Culhane once again showed up on “Weekend Update” in his spot-on impression of right-wing talker Tucker Carlson — and this time his target was last weekend’s Met Gala.
“A night of fashion and fun. Huh. Really. Come on, everybody, let’s all prance around in our $100,000 clown outfits and watch the American empire crumble. What are we doing? Come on,” Culhane-as-Carlson said in opening the segment.
When “Weekend Update” anchor Colin Jost noted that Carlson clearly didn’t like the event, “Tucker” sarcastically responded: “Oh no, I loved it. Because when I go to a museum, I don’t want to learn about history. No, I want to look at The Rock in a skirt. Do you smell what the Rock is cooking? Because I do. It’s gender confusion. That’s the rule. That’s the goal now.”
Then, he took on Madonna: “She named herself after the Virgin Mary. And you want to know my favorite thing about the mother of Jesus Christ? The big pirate ship on her head. And I have to be attracted to this?”
No, Jost said, you don’t. Was there anything you liked? What about Heidi Klum’s outfit?
“Oh yeah, the left has finally gotten what they’ve wanted. They put the Statue of Liberty in a burqa,” he said. “What’s next? Is the Chrysler Building going to become the antichrist-ler Building? What are we doing? Is this the New York we want to live in, Colin?”
Jost noted that Carlson actually lives in Maine. And then “Tucker” went on a tangent about the silent “e” in Maine.
“I’m glad you brought that up. Colin, what does the E even stand for? Oh, I know: ‘Euphoria.’ And, no, I’m not talking about the feeling I get when I press one for English.” Cue Tucker’s maniacal laugh.
Then came Carlson’s take on Jafar Jackson, the star of the new “Michael” film. Carlson had an issue with the film — but of course, not because of the controversy surrounding the King of Pop’s behavior and alleged crimes.
“Oh, yes, right. Some people were upset about the movie,” Jost noted.
Said Carlson: “And they should be. The movie ends in 1988, so obviously they avoided something serious that needs to be acknowledged. The part of Michael Jackson’s life no one wants to talk about anymore. The part when he was a white man. Sorry, kids, Michael Jackson doesn’t get to live a beautiful white life anymore. Who does that remind me of? Oh, that’s right, all of us. ‘Shamona,’ yeah. More like ‘shame on ya.’
After a brief commercial break by Carlson (“Round bananas. Want to eat a banana without looking gay? Try round bananas!”), he left his most offensive hot take for the end.
“Now let’s talk about A$AP Rocky’s outfit. He was on the red carpet — wearing my least favorite color, African American.”
What are we doing?
-
News4 minutes agoMaps: Earthquakes Shake Southern California
-
Politics10 minutes agoDemocratic Candidates Scramble in Virginia After Court Tosses Map
-
Business16 minutes agoWhy Some People Are Allergic to ‘Peanut Butter Raises’
-
Lifestyle46 minutes agoChaos Gardening: A Laid-Back Way to Garden
-
Technology58 minutes agoThe Bastl Kalimba is a wild synth that thinks it’s a thumb piano
-
World1 hour agoRemains recovered of US soldier who went missing in military exercises in Morocco, 2nd soldier still missing
-
Politics1 hour agoHegseth says Pentagon will review Mark Kelly’s public statements about classified briefing amid ongoing feud
-
Health1 hour agoCruise ship linked to deadly Hantavirus outbreak arrives off Tenerife as passenger evacuation begins