From the Vancouver (WA) Columbian:
Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, is hoping Senate Bill 5093 will exempt feminine hygiene products from retail and use tax. As she pointed out to the Senate Ways & Means Committee last week, they are medically necessary products. But if that measure fails to gain momentum, she’s also introduced Senate Bill 5092, which would use the tax that currently exists and reallocate the funds to help domestic violence victims.
The money would create a grant program called Women Helping Women under the Department of Commerce. Funds would be given annually to each county, based on population size, and help local law enforcement and prosecutors to offer support services for domestic violence and sexual assault victims.
The full article is here.
Isn’t the alternative bill — SB 5092 — basically making women pay for services that the government should be providing for all citizens? A similar move happened earlier in the UK (see here), and this Washington State bill seems to have the same impact: shift the cost onto women for services the violence done to them, mostly by men.
