Measure to end ‘tampon tax’ heads to Gov. Jerry Brown

Gov. Jerry Brown will have the chance to decide whether California should eliminate its sales tax on feminine hygiene products.

The Assembly on Tuesday unanimously approved Assembly Bill 1561, which would make the products exempt from sales taxes. It cleared the Senate on another unanimous vote last week.

The measure was bipartisan, carried by Assemblywomen Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens, and Ling-Ling Chang, R-Diamond Bar. It ends the tax on tampons, pads, menstrual cups and menstrual sponges.

“Fundamentally this is about gender equity and leveling the field,” Garcia said in a statement Tuesday. “Every month, for 40 years of our lives, we are taxed for being born women.”

The bill’s passage comes as New York and other states have moved to get rid of the “tampon tax.”

This story was originally published August 23, 2016 at 3:35 PM.