Alabama House approves tax exemption on baby formula, maternity clothing, hygiene products
The Alabama House of Representatives unanimously passed its fifth tax cut of the week Thursday with an exemption for baby products and menstrual hygiene products.
HB 152, sponsored by Rep. Neil Rafferty, D-Birmingham, exempts baby formula, maternity clothing and menstrual hygiene products from state sales tax.
Although the legislation passed unanimously, Rep. Mary Moore, D-Birmingham, said she was concerned about what clothes would be considered 'maternity.'
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'I'm not being critical. That's their choice,' Moore said of people who have 'restrictive' maternity clothes. 'What you consider to be maternity clothing may not be what they want to wear.'
Rep. Ginny Shaver, R-Leesburg, offered an amendment to the bill expanding the exemption to adult diapers. It was adopted unanimously.
'You know I'm all about women, children and seniors,' she said to Rafferty on the floor. 'I have an amendment to include seniors with diapers.'
The legislation would take $10.5 million dollars from the Education Trust Fund (ETF) before Shaver's amendment, but Rafferty said the amendment adds an additional $2.5 million in tax cuts. The ETF is $9.2 billion this year.
Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, sponsored the tax passage that passed Tuesday. He supported the fifth tax cut for a majority of Alabamians. The four-bill package that passed Tuesday will reduce the ETF by $192 million.
'An additional $13 million in tax breaks for a broadbase of Alabamians,' he said.
House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, applauded the tax cut after the House adjourned Thursday.
'We had five tax cuts this week alone,' Ledbetter said. 'So the people of Alabama are going to start seeing relief that they hadn't had, and certainly we're proud to be able to do that.'
The bill now goes to the Senate.
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