LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Rep. Lisa Willner teamed up with students from Mercy Academy on Wednesday to talk about her bill to remove the sales tax on feminine hygiene products.
Willner's bill, HB 142, was filed on Tuesday afternoon, along with state Rep. Samara Heavrin. The bill would add Kentucky to the 24 states not charging tax on feminine-hygiene products.
If passed, the bill would remove the six percent sales-tax from tampons, sanitary napkins, panty liners, menstrual cups and any similar products.
The students at Mercy Academy helped research and advocate for the bill.
"I am proud to see these students take such an interest in this issue of fundamental fairness, and to advocate so strongly on its behalf," Willner said. "They add a powerful voice to our effort to help hundreds of thousands of girls and women better afford products they simply cannot do without."
According to a legislative fiscal note on a similar bill in 2022, the cost of savings of this bipartisan legislation would be $2.3 million annually once its fully established.
"I want them to know women are important just as well as men, and this essential need is what women everywhere need, including women that are homeless and in poverty," Imani Prince, a Mercy Academy junior, said of her message for legislators.
Willner plans for the bill to be considered by the General Assembly during the ongoing legislative session, which finishes at the end of March.
"I hope this year the measure becomes law, because so many Kentuckians are barely getting by and are forced to limit use of these products, putting their health at risk," Willner said. "Kentucky doesn't tax such other necessities as prescriptions and groceries; it shouldn't tax these products, either."
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