COLUMBIA, S.C. — A bill exempting feminine products from state and local sales taxes is headed to Gov. Henry McMaster’s desk for approval.
The South Carolina State Senate unanimously approved the measure on Tuesday. The House passed it in 2023.
Dry cleaning supplies, zoo plants, and amusement park parts are among the tax-exempt items in South Carolina.
"It's going to be a huge relief for women, girls, and their families across the state," said Ashley Lidow, representing the South Carolina Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network (SC WREN).
Lidow highlighted the significant impact of not having access to period products, citing statistics that 1 in 4 young adults have missed school due to this issue, while 1 in 5 adults have missed work.
"If you don't have this essential product, you are either trying to use, I've heard stories from testimony, socks being used so folks can try to attend school or work, or folks have to physically stay home," Lidow emphasized.
According to a fiscal impact report, local governments combined would lose about $1.4 million annually by exempting these products from sales taxes, while the state would see a loss of about $6 million each year.
"It depends on how much product you may need for your household on the actual cost savings it would be to remove 6 percent from that," Lidow explained. "But if you think about inflation and the way all of our grocery prices are going up, every single dollar matters."
Senators Katrina Shealy and Margie Bright Matthews noted that this accomplishment couldn’t have been achieved without the women in the legislature working together.
"The women really worked for this, and we worked for a $7 million tax cut," said Senator Katrina Shealy, representing Lexington County.
Senator Margie Bright Matthews from Colleton County added, "Women and girls, college students, women who don't have a lot of money, they don’t get to choose whether or not they need feminine products."
So far, 22 other states and Washington, D.C., have passed similar laws.