Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday rejected an attempt to waive taxes on tampons and other feminine hygiene products along with other proposed tax breaks, saying lawmakers should propose such ideas as part of the annual state budget process rather than as one-off exceptions. Jerry Brown announced Tuesday.
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“Each of these bills creates a new tax break or expands an existing tax break. In total, these bills would reduce revenues by about $300 million through 2017-18”, said Governor Brown in his veto message.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Brown compared eliminating the taxes to “new spending”, in his decision to veto the bills.
Brown said “tax breaks are the same as new spending” because both take away from the California General Fund budget. They also argue that such taxes fail to treat menstruation products as a medical necessity.
“Today Governor Brown sent a clear message to all women in California”. “There is no other such tax that’s gender specific in the tax code. Perhaps the Governor should answer to the public why his state exempts Pop-Tarts from sales tax, but not necessary menstrual products”. This is even more important when the state’s budget remains precariously balanced.
AB717 by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, would have temporarily exempted diapers from sales and use taxes in the state, which are 7.5 percent of a purchase price.
Governor Brown is sending another message, too – that women’s health is not a priority, that the well-being of families and children is secondary to the bottom line, and that human beings are nothing but dollar signs. Garcia, the California assemblywoman, said she would press on in seeking repeal, vowing to “keep pushing until we get it done”.
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Unfortunately, the package includes the celebrated bill 1561, introduced by Assembly Member Cristina Garcia, which would have created a tax exemption for feminine hygiene products and saved women in California $20 million annually.
