Nine bills filed in the Missouri House would reduce or eliminate the taxes paid on diapers, and most of those would also apply to feminine hygiene products. The bipartisan group of legislators backing them say such a change would help some among the Missourians who most need relief, especially during this period of increased inflation.
The rate at which these products are taxed is sometimes referred to as a “luxury tax.” That is the rate at which most products in Missouri are taxed. Food is taxed at a decreased rate, and some of the proposals would set the levy on those products to that rate. Others would make them exempt from the sales tax altogether.
Several of the bills’ sponsors said there is no reason to keep taxing these things at the greater rate.
“It’s ludicrous … these are not luxury items. These are items that you need to exist and function in society, period,” said Kansas City Democrat Maggie Nurrenbern.
Similar bills have been offered for several years but have fallen short of becoming law. Among their most fervent and consistent backers have been diaper banks. Data released last year by the National Diaper Bank Network placed the annual cost of diapers at nearly $1,000 per infant.
“Over time for the average family, the average parent that’s buying diapers for their child over the course of the first three or four years that will add up,” said Representative Mark Sharp (D-Kansas City) of the tax on those diaper purchases. “The least we can do at the state level is make sure that we’re taking care of the average person, the everyday person who’s just trying to make it and make sure that their child has adequate diapers [and we should] make sure that our older folks have the stuff they need as well.”
Republican Phil Christofanelli (R-St. Peters), sponsoring the proposal for the second straight year, said he thinks part of what has held it up in the past has been that it would significantly reduce revenue, particularly for local governments, “But I think this one’s important, particularly in our time of inflation, where the basic necessities for so many working families are incredibly high and we want to be a culture that encourages stable families and child rearing and a vibrant family culture and this is part of that, make sure that families can afford the necessities of raising kids.”
Representative Peter Merideth (D-St. Louis) has for years sat on the House Budget Committee. He said the state could afford this change.
Merideth’s version of the bill would extend such changes to other necessities, such as, “Toothpaste, deodorant, soap, shampoo, but I do exempt sort of luxury cosmetic-type products. So I think, again, the basic necessities, people just shouldn’t be paying taxes on them.”
In addition to this issue, St. Louis Representative Jo Doll (D) also proposes in House Bill 408 that public charter, middle- and high schools provide feminine hygiene products free to students. She said that wouldn’t just be for students who can’t afford them, it’s about the mental health of young girls dealing with what might still be a new experience.
Regarding those who struggle to afford those products, Doll said, “We know that girls who can’t afford feminine hygiene products don’t go to school during that time and so this would just give them access to products that they may not be able to afford.”
The House sponsors and co-sponsors of those bills include a bipartisan group of 12 Democrats and four Republicans. None of those bills have been referred to a committee.
In the Senate three such measures have been filed. Two of those, filed by Republicans, have been approved by a committee in that chamber.
The bills that have been filed are:
HB 114 (Sharp), HB 126 (Nurrenburn), HB 145 (Doll), HB 290 (Patty Lewis), HB 351 (Christofanelli), HB 381 (Rasheen Aldridge, Jr.), HB 744 (Stephanie Hein), HB 1053 (Barbara Phifer), and HB 1136 (Merideth)
Rep. Doll’s legislation to require schools to provide feminine hygiene products to students at no cost is HB 408.