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The measure has
garnered bipartisan support in the Democratic-controlled
California legislature, but the Assembly's Revenue and Taxation
Committee placed the bill on the panel's "suspense file,"
meaning its fate will be determined early next month.
Enactment of the bill would reduce state and local revenues by
an estimated $20 million a year.
Supporters of the measure say menstrual products should be
treated like any other "necessity of life," including food
products and other health care items, such as prescription
drugs, which are exempt from sales taxes.
"This is fundamentally about gender equity," bill co-author
Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia said in remarks to the committee.
"We don't tax any other non-optional health product that is
needed every month, uniquely, by one gender for 40 years of
life."
Sponsors of the bill say the "tampon tax" poses a particularly
unfair financial burden on the 4.6 million women living in
poverty in California.
Five states - Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Minnesota
and New Jersey - already exempt feminine hygiene products from
sales taxes, and nine states other than California are
considering legislation to do so, supporters say.
(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento; Writing and
additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by
Richard Pullin)
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