On Thursday, June 16, the California State Assembly approved a bill that will end the luxury tax currently placed on tampons and other feminine hygiene products. This bill was first introduced by Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) at the beginning of this year.
In a press release from January, Assemblywoman Garcia said, “This is not insignificant to women, especially poor women on a tight budget who struggle to pay for basic necessities like a box of tampons or pads every month for their adult life.” In California alone, people with periods pay more than $20 million annually on taxes for tampons and sanitary napkins.
Even President Obama spoke out about the unfair tax on such necessities, telling lifestyle vlogger Ingrid Nilsen, “I have no idea why states would tax these as luxury items. I suspect it’s because men were making the laws when those taxes were passed.”
To put it into perspective: Wisconsin does not tax Viagra, New York does not tax Rogaine and Indianna does not tax barbecued sunflower seeds. But all three states tax feminine hygiene products.
Because so few states have addressed this gender biased tax disparity, the The kNOw weighed in on why they support California’s decision to remove the luxury tax.
In 2006, over 25 youth began participating in weekly after-school writing workshops where they congregated in the hallway of a two-story building in West Fresno and learned the essentials of creating media and telling their stories. The group evolved over the next five years and is now proudly recognized as The kNOw Youth Media.
Through our program, we create opportunities for our youth participants, who in turn create long-term positive change in their communities. Our approach weaves youth development and youth media innovation to produce our biannual youth publication, multimedia projects, and community forums.
The kNOw began as a project of New America Media, which was the country’s first and largest national collaboration and advocate of 2000 ethnic news organizations. In 2018 The kNOw became a project of Youth Leadership Institute.
