Proposed legislation looks to flush tampon tax
- May 21, 2016
- 3 min read
TRAVERSE CITY — It's about time.
That's what Traverse City sisters Ginger and Roxanne Burrows said when they heard Michigan legislators introduced a bill that proposes to make tampons, pads and other feminine hygiene products tax-exempt.
"I think it's silly to have someone pay extra, along with what they're paying, for something they have no control over," said Roxanne Burrows, 15.
House Bill No. 5234, introduced by state Rep. Sarah Roberts, D-St. Clair Shores, aims to add Michigan to a list of five states that have nixed sales taxes on feminine hygiene products. Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Minnesota, as well as Canada, have done away with what many call the "pink tax."
"For a woman, feminine hygiene products are an essential item. We have to have them in order to go to work or to school or whatever it is we need to do in our lives," Roberts said. "I don't think we should be taxing women for being women."
The change would group feminine hygiene products with other tax-exempt items in Michigan — including groceries, prescription medications and newspapers — and would mean an annual loss of about $5 million in tax revenue.
Not all lawmakers debating similar legislation across the country agree with Roberts or the Burrows sisters. A tax committee in Utah's House of Representatives voted in February against removing the state's sales tax on tampons and pads. They want to make the tax system predictable, and subjective variations on tax exemptions could do just the opposite, an Associated Press report said.
Ginger Burrows, 18, estimates she and her two sisters together spend at least $15 every month on tampons and pads, which adds up to $180 per year. Eliminating Michigan's 6 percent sales tax on those products would make them more affordable, particularly for low-income or homeless women, she said.
Local organizations such as the Women's Resource Center and Father Fred Foundation stock feminine hygiene products to help clients who can't afford to buy them. Constance Baab, a lead advocate at the Women's Resource Center, said seeing the bill pass would be "a fantastic thing to have happen."
"For our clients who are low-income it's very beneficial, especially if they're buying diapers and things along that line," she said. "It's something all women use, and it's necessary."
Supporters contend making feminine hygiene products more affordable is as much a financial issue as it is a health issue.
Part of Roberts' reason for proposing the new legislation is an uptick in tampon-associated toxic shock syndrome cases in Michigan. Five cases of the rare but serious syndrome have been reported among young women since December 2015, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services data shows.
The previous 10 years averaged fewer than four cases reported annually.
"I think it's primarily these super absorbent tampons that women are leaving in too long. If they can't afford the feminine hygiene products that they need, we're contributing to a potential health risk," Roberts said. "I think eliminating the sales tax helps ease that burden."
Roberts also proposed House Bills No. 5426 and 5427 that call to provide tampons and pads for free in all women's restrooms in state-owned facilities and in public school buildings, respectively. Personal hygiene products such as toilet paper, soap and paper towels are provided in those facilities, and Roberts believes tampons and pads are just as essential.
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