CITY HALL — A City Council committee moved Friday to rescind a sales tax on tampons and sanitary napkins.
"These feminine products are truly necessities of life," said Ald. Edward Burke (14th), a lead sponsor of the measure and chairman of the Finance Committee, which passed it without opposition.
Burke said it corrected a move made by "a functionary" in the Illinois Department of Revenue to remove the medical exemption from sales taxes on the products in 2009. Tampons and sanitary napkins had previously been considered "medical necessities" under a 1989 ruling by the state Supreme Court.
Co-sponsor Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) called the tampon tax "unnecessary and discriminatory."
Their proposal would exempt the products from the city sales tax. Aldermen also introduced a resolution calling on the state to follow suit.
While insisting, "We are not opposed to removing the tax," Tanya Triche, spokeswoman for the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, said the city-state divide could cause confusion and urged the committee to alter the effective date to allow time for the state to lift the tax at the same time. Legislation on the matter has already been introduced in the General Assembly.
Burke agreed, making the city tax exemption effective with the start of next year, pointedly adding, "Not that anything gets done in Springfield."
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, spokeswoman for the Brennan Center for Justice, said the city action represented "menstrual equity."
"You are actually at the vanguard and the forefront of what's become a national and international movement," said Weiss-Wolf, citing similar exemptions in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Massachusetts.
Burke said Weiss-Wolf would be in New York City next week to lobby for the same exemption there.
"Let's hope we can pass this Wednesday and beat New York City to the punch," he added.
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