New York, NY – Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D/WF-Manhattan) today announced that her bill, A.7555, which exempts feminine hygiene products, such as tampons and sanitary napkins, from state sales, was UNANIMOUSLY passed by the Assembly.

“The tampon tax is a regressive tax on women and their bodies,” said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal. "New York women will now be relieved of paying a luxury tax on products that address a biological necessity,” she said.

New York State exempts medical necessities, such as bandages, medicine and even condoms from state sales tax, but not feminine hygiene products. There are more than 10 million women of child-bearing age in New York State, each paying 4% state sales tax on their monthly purchase of tampons or sanitary napkins for a minimum of 40 years.

“Tampons are hardly a luxury good and should not be taxed as such,” said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal. “Feminine hygiene products are medical necessities that enable women to participate fully in everyday life while they menstruate. The state should not tax menstruation.”

Once the bill passes the Senate, where it is sponsored by Sue Serino, and is signed into law, New York will join 10 other states that do not tax feminine hygiene products: Minnesota , Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and Massachusetts explicitly exempt feminine hygiene products from state sales tax and Montana, Oregon, Arkansas, New Hampshire and Delaware have no state sales tax at all.

Recently, a group of five New York women brought a lawsuit against the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance seeking damages, arguing that the state sales tax on feminine hygiene products violates the Equal Protection Clauses of the United States and New York State Constitution.

“To be sure, the tax on tampons and other similar products harkens back to a time when little was understood about women’s biology and the vast majority of lawmakers were men. It’s high time that we changed that and brought New York’s tax code in line with the realities of modern women and their biology.”

Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal introduced bill A.7555 in May 2015 and since then, the issue has swept the United States and world by storm. California, Ohio, Utah and Virginia have introduced legislation to end state sales tax on tampons and sanitary napkins. Recently, Canada became the first country to exempt feminine hygiene products from sales tax, and debates on the issue are currently occurring in Australia and the United Kingdom. President Obama recently expressed surprise when he learned that most states tax tampons and sanitary products, and encouraged women to band together to fight to repeal it.