Two California assemblywomen on Tuesday received support from the California State Board of Equalization for their bill to end the “tampon tax.”
Assembly Bill 1561, authored by Assemblymember Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) and Assemblymember Ling Ling Chang (R-Diamond Bar), would make menstrual products exempt from sales tax.
“Effectively we are being taxed for being born as women,” said Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens). “AB 1561 is about social justice, gender equity in our tax code, it’s an opportunity to end an outdated tax that uniquely targets women for a function of their body, a function we don’t control and can’t ignore every month of our adult life.”
Currently, California law exempts health items like walkers, medical identification tags, and prescription medication, including Viagra.
“Menstrual products are a basic necessity. When we call tampons or pads “feminine hygiene” products it makes us forget that these are actually necessary health items that women use on a monthly basis,” Garcia said.
Five states have already repealed the sales tax on feminine hygiene products which they consider necessary health products for women.