According
to a recent Governing article,
five states (Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania)
say no and others may soon join them.
The article highlights a push among states to lift the sales tax on feminine
hygiene products, a move that also sparked a broader conversation about women’s
health issues.
Media
coverage last year sought to make people more aware of the issue, the article
claims. As an example, it cited Cosmopolitan’s
online drive petition to exempt tampons from the sales tax. The magazine
claimed that women spend more than $70 a year on these products. The petition
stated that, “these items are a necessity—not an option, not a luxury item—and
should be treated as such.”
While
some state legislators want to lift the sales tax from hygiene products, others
want to make them more affordable, especially to low-income women. California
state Representative Cristina Garcia told Governing,
“If you’re living dollar-to-dollar, budgeting $7 to $10 a month for these
products can be tough.” One way to make the products more affordable to these
women is to allow them to buy the products with food stamps. That option though
requires changing federal law, which specifies the things people can buy with
food stamps.
A
quick search of the National Conference
of State Legislatures’ database found that nearly a dozen states, including
Connecticut, are looking at bills this year to exempt feminine hygiene products
from taxation.
Click
here
to read the full article.
