By The Herald Editorial Board
Tampons and sanitary napkins are not a luxury, they are a necessity. Yet, in our presumptive progressive state, they are taxed as such. All over the world, including the United States, an extremely belated revolution is taking place to protest the taxing of products women need for their menstrual cycles.
Canada ended its tax on feminine hygiene products over the summer, the Washington Post reported, after thousands of people signed an online petition. In the U.S., it looks like we will go state-by-state. New York City took a broader step to ensure access to these products when Mayor Bill de Blasio signed bills guaranteeing girls and women in schools, prisons and shelters free tampons and pads. Soon after, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation ending local and state taxes on the products. California, Connecticut and Illinois also passed such bills.
In California, assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, a Democrat who jointly authored the legislation with assemblywoman Ling Ling Chang, a Republican, said the tax added up to “over $20 million annually in taxes.”
“We are being taxed for being women,” Garcia said last year. “This is a step in the right direction to fix this gender injustice.”
“Government is taxing women for something that is totally out of their control,” Chang said. “Feminine hygiene is not a choice and should not be taxed.”
This year, Washington has a chance to join the other states and countries taking this important stand. Rep. Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, told KIRO 7 News she would like to introduce a bill to eliminate the sales tax on feminine hygiene products. Because our state is dependent on sales tax in a way most are not (we don’t have an income tax) the proposal here might be a harder sell despite the clear need for such a change. The sale of feminine hygiene products produce about $10 million in revenue, KIRO reported. (With a total state budget of $35 million.)
Jinkins should introduce the bill because she has hit on the solution for the missed revenue: Revisiting other products — nearly 700 of them! — that for some reason have an exemption, like Christmas trees and candy bars. If tampons are a luxury item (for taxing purposes) what does that make a Christmas tree?
(Speaking of sales tax, with the revenue from legal cannabis sales exceeding $1 billion since 2014, the Legislature could responsibly widen the areas where this money can be used (such as to fill the tampon tax gap), while still funding prevention, treatment programs and scientific research; and programs to reduce student dropout rates.)
This is the year to fix the sales tax inequity. Who will join Rep. Jinkins to sponsor the bill?
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