Published: Apr. 22, 2019
By: Hunter Lovell, LSU Manship School News Service
BATON ROUGE- Louisiana lawmakers signaled support for legislation that would exempt diapers and feminine hygiene products, including tampons, from state sales tax.
The so-called “tampon tax” or “diaper bill” is back on the radar. The bills were filed by Sen. J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans, who received a lot of pushback in 2017 when he introduced similar proposals.
Both bills — one to exempt the products from state tax and the other to give local government the option to exempt them from local taxes — are co-sponsored by Rep. Walt Leger III, D-New Orleans.
Low-income families and poor people often struggle to afford health and wellness products, which are currently taxed at the regular rate.
“There are moms that can’t afford diapers,” Morrell said. “They have to go basically to a food bank for diapers to provide diapers for their children. Diapers are expensive, and if you’re paying 30 to 40 bucks for a large pack of diapers, you’re paying $3 to $4 of tax on top of that. For some of these low-income families that makes or breaks the bank.”
Read more in WBRZ.
LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau 