We’re getting personal about our periods. The path to menstrual equity starts with talking about it.
Whoever thinks tampons and pads are luxury items has obviously never bled through their jeans in the middle of the school day or missed work because their cycle was causing them pain. But in 20 states in the US, menstrual products are taxed as luxury items. Being able to access and buy menstrual products isn’t a luxury or a privilege or even a choice for people with periods. It’s a medical necessity.
And it’s an expensive necessity at that. On average, a person spends $20 on menstrual products per cycle, which can add up to around $18,000 over the course of a lifetime, according to research by Huffington Post, and US menstruators pay anywhere from 4% to 7% in sales tax for their products. It is estimated that there are 16.9 million people living in the US who experience period poverty. Ending the tampon tax can help ease the weight of the cost for low-income menstruators — and luckily, there’s a bill currently in motion to do just that.
In the past four years, 11 states have passed bills to exempt period products from taxation but there’s still a lot of work to be done. We sat down with Representative Al Green (TX-09) and Rep. Grace Meng (NY-06), who reintroduced the Stop Taxes Against Menstrual Products Act of 2024 (STAMP Act of 2024), which would make it unlawful for states to collect sales tax on period products, to talk about what the future holds for the tampon tax.
Editor’s note: These interviews were conducted separately. Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.
How did this act come together? Why is it necessary?
Al Green: If men had periods, pads would be free. In my opinion, this act will be another opportunity to equalize the status of men and women. I see no reason why we should have a tax on something that is a necessity. This is a part of healthcare, and we want to make sure that healthcare is available to all women.
I am honored to have many cosponsors of this Act. Representative Meng has been working for a number of years on a piece of legislation which, in the 118th Congress, is known as H.R.3646 – Menstrual Equity For All Act of 2023. It is a large bill which seeks to take a whole-of-government approach to period poverty and expand access to menstrual products. I worked with Rep. Meng to incorporate the STAMP Act into this larger bill to make it as comprehensive as possible. Rep. Meng has long pushed for the elimination of taxes on menstrual products, including the successful effort in her home state of New York. We were delighted when she also joined our bill as a co-lead and helped to circulate it.
[I’ve been inspired to propose] that the women who are eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — a government program that provides food benefits to low-income families — can also get the funds to have menstrual products. I am talking to my staff about that currently and as a result of this interview, we may have a new piece of legislation from the federal government that would allow SNAP to afford menstrual products for women.
Grace Meng: This is something that we first worked on with our local and state legislators in New York, almost 10 years ago. The state legislature had been contemplating banning sales tax on menstrual products and we wrote a letter supporting it. I used to be in the state legislature so I worked with them and they banned that. We want to see the same thing in other states. Even though we’re at a different level of government, this is one way that we can work together to help our constituents. These items can be costly, they’re not luxury items. Some of the work has to be done on the state legislature level and then some has to be done at the federal level.
The STAMP Act was proposed back in 2022. Is this delay something you expect to go through? What are the challenges?
AG: I’m always optimistic, but I do understand that politics unfortunately has a way of interceding in the way legislation flows through Congress. There is no reason politically, in my opinion, for this piece of legislation to be stalled and for this legislation to linger in Congress, but the politics of passage sometimes can be more detrimental to the legislation. I’m going to continue to introduce it and I’m going to make sure that in doing so, I’m able to get this legislation through.
GM: This has been a tough topic to talk about in general. Not just with men, not just with Republicans, but almost everyone. It’s just been such a taboo topic. When I bring up some of the legislation we’re working on, you can tell people are a little embarrassed or they feel like they shouldn’t say the P word or the M word. But I think for most people, once you explain and compare these items to necessities and remind people that these are not luxury items, people are pretty understanding. Young people across the country have been really helping us get the word out in their schools, a lot of high school students across the country have been helping.
How have young people been getting involved?
GM: When we first introduced our Menstrual Equity For All Act, we started to get postcards and correspondence from all over the country. I will, almost every month, get an email or outreach from some young person in some part of the country who says they’re working on forming a high school club or they’re organizing a drive. I think it has been a really empowering issue for young people. They can see how, even just by collecting items from people who can afford them and distributing them to shelters or pantries or even passing them out to unhoused people, that they are able to make a difference. At the same time, a lot of folks who are forming clubs are helping us get the word out about bills like ours to their own legislators at the state and federal level.
Rep. Green, you’re an older man who doesn’t menstruate — why is this cause important to you?
AG: I think this is the right thing to do. It’s the same reason that people helped file the NAACP who are not people of color. They were people of goodwill who concluded that there was an injustice and it had to be corrected. I see this as an injustice, the fact that women’s healthcare needs are not being met simply because of politics.
I am someone who believes in healthcare for all. I think, in the richest country in the world, we ought not have a “wealthcare” system where the wealthiest people get the best of care and the poorest of people sometimes get no care at all.
Why do you think it’s important for non-menstruators to get involved in this kind of advocacy work?
AG: For the same reason I think men ought to not be afraid to support a female for public office. [We] should want to see women succeed and to see equal pay for equal work. Every man owes his existence to a woman. [Without a] woman, I wouldn’t be here. I have a mother, and it just seems to me that given that my mother has cared for me and nurtured me, then I have a debt that I owe to women in general.
This seems like a simple thing to help reduce period poverty — why do you think it hasn’t been done yet in the US?
AG: Men have a tendency to think that they know what’s best for women. Most legislatures in this country are controlled by men and men have, from the genesis of this country, had women in subordinate positions. Unfortunately, men make decisions that are not in the best interest of all of the constituency, and this is one of those cases. I want to be part of the people of goodwill who are trying to correct this injustice.
GM: People are uncomfortable even talking about it. I’m in my 40s and we all grew up [tucking] the products in our sleeves like it was a hidden secret, like something was wrong with us. Even now, as I’m trying to be a role model in this space I have to remind myself, okay, I’m going to walk proudly through my office or through a restaurant with a product in my hand.
There are 20 states in the US that still tax these products. What can the everyday person do to change this?
AG: Everybody has a right to have a voice, everybody has a right to vote… You have to ask people whether they support certain things and then follow up and ask, When are you going to support it?
GM: The most helpful thing is, for someone who may read [this] article, to go to their individual Congress member and say that they would like them to help support and cosponsor the bill. Oftentimes when we build momentum by getting more cosponsors or more buzz about a piece of legislation, that makes it easier for us to pass something.
What’s next for the STAMP Act?
AG: First, let’s see if we can make it a part of the SNAP program. I know that’s for food, but Congress has the ability to do anything that it wants. I see no reason why we should not, as taxpayers, want to make sure that women have healthcare products. It impacts their jobs, it impacts their education, so I think that we should try our very best to make it a part of the SNAP program.
I think that healthcare is something that should be made available [to everyone]. It took us about 100 years to get the Affordable Care Act passed and we have people who continually talk about removing that from our reach.
GM: We just left Congress for about five weeks now, we will be in our districts and obviously nothing will get passed until at least mid-November when we return. But one can still be hopeful in the few weeks that are remaining in Congress. Either way, we’re going to double our efforts next year in the next Congress and keep plugging away.
Rep. Meng, you’ve also brought forward the Menstrual Equity For All Act — what is it aiming to accomplish?
GM: It’s kind of like a wish list for anyone who may be affected by menstrual inequity. It’s everything from asking schools to provide these products for free to [asking] prisons and large-scale employers. That’s something, aside from the bill, that we’ve even tried to do in Congress. We’ve been working separately from this bill to get large public institutions to provide these products and [Congress has them] in a lot of spaces, not all, but that’s happening on the hill. We want to make sure that no one is left out if and when we pass a bill addressing period poverty.
One thing that I think is important [that we’re doing] is asking Medicaid to cover the cost for these products. There are items like baby formula, for example, that are covered by federal programs, but products like these are not. [The people affected] are some of the more vulnerable communities who literally may be choosing between providing these products for their families or putting food on the table.
Why is period poverty an important problem that we as a country need to address?
GM: A few years ago, a junior high school student in Queens, New York wrote me a letter saying that people in homeless shelters in New York were not allowed to get [menstrual] products but they were among the most requested items. We looked into this and we realized that the federal grants that the homeless shelters were getting did not allow them to buy and distribute these products, so we worked with the administration to change those rules. When I and my team delved into the issue we realized that New York State was trying to pass the [tampon] tax ban, and at the city level two local council members were trying to get these products to be put into all of our public schools for free. Around the same few months, we were working on city, state and federal level to address these issues.
The more you dig into it, the more you realize this isn’t a problem only happening in underdeveloped nations far away from us but right here, in affluent cities, and that there are a lot of young people who are skipping school once a month [because they can’t afford menstrual products]. People don’t have a choice whether they get their period or not.
We’re getting closer to the presidential election. What should voters be looking out for?
AG: Voters should be prepared to ask the hard questions. You have to ask questions of all candidates but in this case especially men, because there are more men in Congress than women. It’s going to take some collaboration and cooperation to get it done.
GM: I am supporting Kamala Harris for president. I think this election helps determine the future of our country, especially for women and working families. We hear a lot about the word freedom, and I think about the freedoms that may disappear if former President Trump is elected — that includes what we’ve seen already from places like Georgia, what girls have been through and how it has literally taken their lives and impacted their families and loved ones, and that’s just talking about reproductive rights.
The freedom to make your own decision about your own body and for your own family is something that is a right, it’s not a privilege in this country. Freedom is on the line and if you take a look at some of these documents like Project 2025, it’s pretty scary as you delve into [its proposals], from eliminating the Department of Education to how women will be treated, how immigrants will be treated, how people who are third and second generation immigrant families will be treated, it’s very scary. It instills a lot of fear in people. I encourage everyone to go through your contacts list and all your social media apps, and remind people to make sure to vote.
Rep. Green, as a women’s lifestyle publication we have to do our due diligence. As we were researching we came across an incident from 2008 involving you and a former staffer — we certainly don’t want to bring it up in an accusatory way but do you have anything to say about it now?
AG: That former staffer and I, we’re on very good terms. I have only kind things to say. You are talking about a lawsuit that I filed that was dismissed. I have no more to say, those who would like to know more can read the litigation, it’s in court. But this was a very fine, kind person and sometimes people have disagreements and they resolve them, and this was resolved in an amiable and amicable way.
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