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House committee passes bill to eliminate grocery tax in AZ

The Arizona House Ways and Means Committee passed a bill that would eliminate tax on groceries Wednesday. More than 20 cities in the Phoenix area alone currently collect a tax on groceries.

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Leo Biasiucci, says already rising prices at the grocery store make eliminating that extra cost a must.

"Inflation has brought in record numbers for grocery taxes already," Biasiucci said. "Online sales tax is bringing in money they’ve never seen before, and it keeps going up."

Critics say eliminating grocery taxes would hurt revenue for city services and worsen strain on local governments from other tax cuts.

Biasiucci says food taxes aren’t needed to support fiscally responsible communities.

Kirsten Dorman is a field correspondent at KJZZ. Born and raised in New Jersey, Dorman fell in love with audio storytelling as a freshman at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in 2019.