Senator Lauren Book (D-Plantation) this week filed legislation to prevent families from being charged sales tax when purchasing diapers and adult incontinence undergarments. If passed, SB 806 would make Florida the fifteenth state to remove sales tax charges for these essential health and hygiene products.
“It’s time to stop taxing Florida families for these essential healthcare items,” says Senator Book, who chairs the Senate Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs. “Caring for young children and adults with incontinence issues comes with overwhelming costs. For the health, safety, and dignity of families, Florida should join other states across the country and stop taxing these necessary healthcare items.”
1 in 3 U.S. families report experiencing diaper need. Diapers cannot be purchased with food stamps, and families cannot be receiving federal or state cash assistance except for Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to be eligible to get diapers at no cost from diaper banks.
Disposable diapers can cost families $70 to $80 per month, creating significant cost burden for low income families. Forty-nine percent of Florida’s children under age 3 live in low-income families, as do 10 percent of Florida’s elders. According to the Tampa Bay Times, “for a single mom or dad working full time at minimum wage, the cost [of diapers] can consume 6 percent of total annual pay. For the lowest-income parents, it’s as much as 14 percent.”
Relatedly, Florida eliminated sales tax for tampons and feminine hygiene products in 2017.
This is the latest in Book’s pro-children and family legislative agenda. The Senator is also sponsoring legislation to allow Medicaid coverage for donor breastmilk from milk banks, extend Medicaid coverage for post-partum care, require both sanitary napkins/pads and tampons to be provided in all female restrooms in Florida’s K-12 public schools, prevent the use of seclusion and undue restraint in Florida’s schools, and keep children safe from sexual predators. This will be Book’s fourth year filing legislation to stop Florida’s diaper tax.
