Blake supports eliminating the grocery tax and putting those dollars back where they belong - with North Carolina taxpayers.

Food is a necessity, not a discretionary purchase. Removing the tax would help North Carolina in several ways:

• Immediate relief at the register. Families would pay less every time they buy qualifying groceries. The savings are modest on any one trip, but they accumulate throughout the year.

  
  

• It disproportionately helps working- and middle-income households. Lower-income families spend a larger percentage of their income on necessities like food, so a tax on groceries consumes a larger share of their household budget.

  
  

• It helps families without requiring an application or government program. The tax simply disappears from qualifying grocery purchases. Every eligible shopper receives the benefit automatically.

  
  

• It helps offset rising food costs. Lawmakers cannot control what grocery stores charge for meat, milk, produce or eggs, but they can control whether government adds another tax to those purchases.

  
  

• It keeps more money in local households. Money not collected at the grocery register can instead be spent on utilities, gas, childcare, housing, other local businesses or family needs.

  
  

• It creates a very easy-to-understand tax-cut message: North Carolina should not tax families for putting food on the table.