POST FALLS, Idaho – In a Post Falls grocery stores, two bananas and a can of beans cost $1.22 before tax. With Idaho’s 6% Grocery Tax, that total rises $1.30.
Howard Rynearson, chairman of the Payette County Republicans, is leading a citizen initiative to repeal the grocery tax.
“It just needs to go away,” Rynearson said. “That’s the emotional/moral issue of it.”
By introducing the initiative, it is eligible to be added to the 2026 ballot, if 70,000 signatures of support are gathered.
Rynearson expressed confidence in public support, especially after a 2024 Idaho poll by Mountain States Policy showed nearly 90% of 800 registered voters favored removing grocery taxes.
Idaho resident Ray Hubbard explained a 6% tax can have a lasting impact.
“Our family and neighbors, we know the sting of an extra dollar on a gallon of milk,” Hubbard said.
The proposed grocery tax removal would apply only to SNAP-eligible food in Idaho. Sugary drinks and restaurant-prepared food would still incur the 6% tax.
Rynearson said some worry about losing critical revenue, but its not a significant amount of money.
“It’s around 200 million last year that went into the general fund,” Ryerson said.
Rynearson stated he doesn’t have a solution for replacing the revenue but trusts the legislature to figure it out.
“We were 343 million in the black,” Rynearson said of Idaho’s revenue. “There’s a rainy day fund that is, I believe over a billion dollars.”
This initiative is not the first attempt to abolish the grocery tax. A 2017 bill was passed by the Idaho Legislature but vetoed by the governor. A 2023 House bill also failed. This time, the initiative will be voted on by the public.
“This will bring the voice back to the people,” Hubbard said.
If the initiative makes it to the ballot and passes in 2026, the earliest grocery taxes could be removed from receipts is 2028.
