Medication is exempt from sales tax in Virginia, and one other category could be included in that group if the legislature approves. Lawmakers are considering a bill to stop taxing feminine hygiene products.
Delegate Mark Keam of Vienna says a female staffer convinced him that the legislature needed to look at a new category of products that women of child-bearing age buy – tampons and sanitary napkins.
"They’re life’s necessities. They’re not just luxuries. And so to the extent that our tax law provides relief for certain products that people have to use, this might be a category of personal hygiene which obviously is important for everyone."
So he’s introduced House bill 952, and will argue that taxing these things might amount to discrimination.
"You’re basically discriminating on the gender of the user. I never thought of it as an inequitable issue but when you think about it, obviously for some people they can afford, but for many women who can't afford it and not just that, say diapers for their kids and such, it is a hardship."
Keam isn’t sure how much revenue would be lost, but government accountants will provide an estimate before the measure comes to a vote. Virginia isn’t known for progressive legislation, but this time around Keam says we’re right in the vanguard, with California considering a similar bill.
