State ‘Tampon Tax’ Repeals Gain Momentum by Adding Baby Essentials

Lawmakers in about a dozen states are considering bills to eliminate the sales tax on menstrual products, which already has been repealed or doesn’t exist in a majority of states. Many of the latest efforts have widened their scope to include diapers and other products to draw in more support.

“Kill-the-tampon-tax” bills were filed this year in at least 13 of the 22 states that still have the tax. Measures with bipartisan support are pending in mostly Republican-led states—Texas, Georgia, Arizona, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Indiana—and in Hawaii, where a Democratic proposal (SB 241) has some GOP backing. Recent attempts failed in North Dakota and Mississippi.

“Since the fall of Roe, the issue of period poverty has been exceedingly amplified and I’ve found that it has presented an opportunity for both parties to support bipartisan legislation on an issue that impacts women, girls, and all who menstruate across the country,” said Ameer Abdulrahman, national campaigns manager at the nonprofit group PERIOD.

Pushed by lawsuits and organizations trying to eradicate what’s often referred to as period poverty, legislatures have acted during the last decade to end taxes on menstrual products, which the Food and Drug Administration regulates as medical devices. Holdouts argue that eliminating the tax would erode a state’s sales tax base.

Among supporters there’s been a growing shift in messaging and strategy. Many of the latest round of proposals also exempt products such as diapers and breastfeeding devices. These bills are more expensive because of the larger number of items that won’t be taxed, but have become more appealing to both Democrats and Republicans. They’re pitched as “inclusive family relief legislation.”

For example, an Arizona bill (SB 1033) includes diapers and adult versions, as well as medical equipment and home medical supplies ordered or prescribed by a licensed physician. A Missouri bill (SB 131) includes diapers, some medical devices, and in a potentially surprising twist, also would provide tax breaks for the sales of firearms and ammunition.

For those closely watching the issue for a long time, “Texas is the big fish this year,” said Laura Strausfeld, an attorney who orchestrated a class action in 2016 to end the New York sales tax on menstrual products.

Better Prospects

Texas Rep. Donna Howard (D) has introduced legislation to repeal the tax since 2017. Her first bill didn’t even get a hearing, she said in an interview. Her measure got one in 2019, but the committee didn’t vote on it. Two years later, the proposal unanimously passed the committee, but didn’t get a floor vote.

The prospects for this year’s bill (HB 300) seem better with the addition of diapers, baby wipes, and bottles.

“Now that the bill actually includes other products, in addition to period products, the bill was voted out of committee, and it has the support of leadership, giving me a strong indication that we have a good likelihood of this actually passing this time,” Howard said.

If passed, the exemptions would result in an annual $28.6 million revenue loss for the next biennium budget, according to the state Comptroller Glenn Hegar. Texas holds an estimated $32.7 billion surplus, according to the comptroller’s office.

Texas can afford it because of “conservative fiscal policies,” said Sen. Joan Huffman (R), who is sponsoring a companion Senate bill (SB 379), said in a news release. “Every woman knows that these products are not optional,” she said. “They are essential to our health and well-being and should be tax exempt.”

Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Hegar announced their support for the elimination of the sales tax on menstrual products ahead of the legislative session. “Taxing these products is archaic,” Hegar said in August.

Being Realistic

For Katherine Loughead, senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, these proposals are a non-neutral way to cut taxes, and the relief provided may be “short-lived.”

“Creating an exemption in one area of the tax code does not prevent tax hikes from occurring on those same taxpayers in other areas of the tax code,” said Loughead. “Taxes exist to generate a stable source of revenue to fund the government services we all rely on, not to make determinations about which goods and consumers deserve special treatment and which don’t.”

In Georgia, Rep. Kim Schofield (D), one of the sponsors of a menstrual-products exemption bill (HB 123), said that families living on the state’s $5.15 an hour minimum wage bear the brunt of these sales taxes. Her measure has a Republican backer, but a companion (SB 51) in the Senate doesn’t yet.

Menstrual products should be tax-free just like medical devices, Schofield said. Comparing them to hygiene products men might buy isn’t equitable or realistic.

“This is really a no-brainer for Georgia,” she said. “There’s a difference between what men can buy, and what women need to buy.”