TX House votes to eliminate sales tax on tampons, diapers. Here are next steps for the bill

Editor’s Note: House Bill 300 was passed out of the Texas House on March 29 on a 145-2 vote. It was updated to include adult diapers among the tax exempt items. It next heads to Senate committee.

The Texas House on Tuesday took a step towards eliminating sales tax on tampons and other period products.

The chamber gave House Bill 300 by Rep. Donna Howard, an Austin Democrat, initial approval. They’ll vote on it once more before it goes to the Senate for consideration.

The legislation, which Howard said has been many years in the making, exempts tampons and other period products like pads and menstrual cups from state and local sales tax. The bill also exempts children’s diapers, baby wipes and bottles, maternity clothes and products for pumping breast milk.

“This bill provides an opportunity to help Texas families at every stage of life,” Howard said of the bill.

The legislation is a priority of House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Beaumont Republican.

“The Texas House is proud to make essential baby items & feminine hygiene products more affordable for Texas families,” Phelan said in a tweet.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott supports exempting feminine hygiene products from sales tax, a spokesperson said in an August statement.

“These are essential products for women’s health and quality of life, and the Governor looks forward to working with the legislature in the next session to remove this tax burden on Texas women,” Spokesperson Renae Eze said at the time.

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar and state Sen. Joan Huffman, a Houston Republican who chairs the senate Finance Committee, have also expressed support for repealing the tax.

“I’m assuming that she’s going to be able to garner the bipartisan support over there and maybe even all 31,” Howard said of the bill’s chances in the Senate.

Howard said she believes the exemptions have failed to pass the Legislature in the past because sales taxes are a primary source of state revenue. This difference this year is a $32.7 billion surplus, she said.

Any time the state approves a tax exemption, it’s losing some of that revenue used to provide state services, Howard said. A fiscal note estimates revenue loss of about $195 million to state general revenue funds over 2024 and 2025.

“When we have such a significant surplus, that argument pales,” Howard said. “So that, that gave a lot more momentum, coupled with the fact that we wanted to see

She estimated that a family could save about $30 in a month, if they were to buy all the products made tax exemption eligible in the bill. Some of those costs would be one time, but others would be recurring.

“That goes a long way for some families,” she said.