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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 10, 2016)
5A THE DAILY ASTORIAN THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2016 Does being female in the US carry unfair costs? By COLLEEN LONG and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press HOW STATES RATE ON ISSUE OF TAMPON TAX ACROSS THE COUNTRY The Associated Press NEW YORK — Margo Seibert and Natalie Brasington don’t think women should have to pay a “period tax,” and like a growing number of other women, they are publicly ques- tioning whether being female in the U.S. carries unfair costs. 7he pair are among ¿ve New York &ity women who ¿led a lawsuit last week arguing that it was unconstitu- tional for the state to levy sales tax on tampons and sanitary napkins while offering medical product exemptions to many other items used by both genders, like lip balm, foot powder and dandruff shampoo. The case, they say, is about more than the few cents in tax levied on each pack. Sick of the social taboo, and frus- trated by a lack of access for some to a staple, these women and others are talking very publicly about menstrua- tion and gaining political traction that would have been impossible a gener- ation ago. A national push to abolish sales tax on tampons is gathering steam, led by social media campaigns like#period- swithoutshame. At least seven states are now considering legislation. Illi- nois lawmakers were holding a hear- ing on the latest proposal Wednesday. Connecticut legislators discussed the issue Monday. Cosmopolitan magazine launched an online petition, and even President Barack Obama has questioned why the items are taxed. “I tend to talk about my period quite a bit, to anyone who will listen,” said Seibert, a 31-year-old actress and founder of an online campaign that promotes a “shame-free” period. A national push to abolish sales tax on tampons is gaining steam. Here’s how states rate on the issue. States considering legislation to abolish the tampon tax: • California (7.5 percent) • Connecticut (state sales tax is 6.35 percent) • Illinois (6.25 percent) Bebeto Matthews/AP Photo Attorney Zoe Salzman, left, and plaintiff Natalie Brasington have brought a class action lawsuit to end New York sales tax on fem- inine hygiene products, in New York. The lawsuit filed March 3 ar- gues that it is unconstitutional for the state to levy sales tax on tam- pons and sanitary napkins while offering medical product exemp- tions to many other items used by both genders, like lip balm, foot powder and dandruff shampoo. Tougher for poorer women Brasington, a 31-year-old photog- rapher, said the tax affects women disproportionately and is a genuine burden for poorer women. “Being a woman is so expensive,” she said. Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, a vice pres- ident at the NYU School of Law’s Brennan Center for Justice, said she began writing articles and op-eds on “menstrual equity” when she discov- ered food pantries were desperate for sanitary napkins and tampons because poor women can’t afford them. The tax campaign reÀects a broader debate over “gender pric- ing,” or charging women and men different rates for similar products and services, from haircuts to razors to T-shirts. New York City’s consumer pro- tection agency studied the cost of 800 common household items last year and found that products mar- keted to women cost, on average, 7 percent more than similar products for men. “Women’s outcry over this issue isn’t just about the tax on tam- pons. It’s a reÀection of the rou- tine unfairness that seeps into our everyday lives,” said Sonia Osso- rio, president of the National Orga- nization for Women in New York. “At the end of the day, the tampon tax movement is one small way to challenge the broader sexism that still persists. Because that’s the real taboo here.” While women’s advocates have long lamented that many women’s products cost more, their provid- ers say there can be legitimate rea- sons — a more decorative prod- uct or more complicated haircut, for instance. And some have noted that women sometimes pay less: for life and auto insurance, for example. • Michigan (6 percent) • New York (4 percent) • Virginia (6 percent) • Wisconsin (5 percent) A bill failed earlier this session in Utah, where the state sales tax is 4.7 percent. States that do not tax tampons and sanitary pads: • Maryland • Massachusetts Where the taxes are Nationwide, 40 states tax fem- inine hygiene products, deeming them non-necessities or even “luxury items,” while making exceptions for products as similar as adult inconti- nence pads. Currently, ¿ve U.S. states exempt tampons and other feminine hygiene products from their sales tax, which varies around the country from about 2.9 percent to as high as 7.5 percent. Another ¿ve states have no sales tax. New York taxes tampons and sani- tary napkins as tools “to control a nor- mal bodily function and to maintain personal cleanliness.” The 4 percent state sales tax on the products costs New York women millions of dollars a year; estimates range from about $7 million to twice that, a minute fraction of the state’s $142 billion budget. Advocates say the cost, however small it may seem, is burdensome for poor women, who also can’t purchase the products with food stamps. “Having one’s period is not a lux- ury,” state Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, a Democrat who has pro- posed abolishing the tax. “Because of our biology, we bear this extra cost, and the state should not compound it.” • Minnesota • New Jersey • Pennsylvania States with no sales tax: • Alaska • Delaware • Montana • New Hampshire • Oregon Source: National Conference of State Legislatures and state websites The state Department of Taxation and Finance declined to comment, citing the lawsuit. Two major manu- facturers of feminine hygiene prod- ucts, P&G, the maker of the Tampax brand, and Edgewell Personal Care Co., the maker of the Playtex brand, didn’t respond to inquiries this week about the tax issue. Zoe Salzman, the attorney on the New York case, said they’d push to get a judge to rule the tax unlawful. “If men had to use these products every month, they would already be tax-exempt,” she said. Meanwhile, the legislative pro- posal has yet to get a hearing, though supporters are hopeful about its pros- pects, especially since Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently said the tax should be abolished. That wasn’t the sense in Utah, where a legislative committee last month nixed a proposal to tax-ex- empt the items. While some members of the all-male committee supported the idea, others questioned where the state would draw the line on what to tax in the future. The Los Angeles Times, in an edi- torial last week, expressed similar concerns in opposing a tax exemp- tion that California lawmakers are considering. Washington state to study risk of oil spills on the Columbia By NATALIE ST. JOHN EO Media Group OLYMPIA, Wash. — With greater numbers of ves- sels transporting oil through state waters, the risk of a cata- strophic oil spill is increasing. With that in mind, the Washington Department of Ecology has hired the Nor- way-based maritime con- sultancy Det Nosrke Ver- itas (USA) Inc., to study vessel traf¿c in and around the Columbia River, and eval- uate the risk for potential oil spills, according to a March 3 press release. Additionally, George Washington Univer- sity will update a similar 2010 study of Puget Sound. “The Columbia River has not been looked at from a safety perspective as a whole body of work,” Scott Fergu- son, a project manager for Ecology said in the press release. “With all the changes in the type and mode of oil transportation that travel through the area, we need to perform a system-wide review of the river from the Oregon/ Washington border to Idaho.” The Washington State Legislature in 2015 passed the Oil Transportation Safety Act, which provides funding for the reports. Over the next four ¿scal years, the state will spend about $480,000 on the two studies, according to a November publication from THE DAILY ASTORIAN T HURSDAY E VENING A (2) (3) (-) (-) (6) (-) (8) (10) (12) (13) (-) (20) (-) (29) (30) (31) (32) (34) (35) (36) (38) (39) (43) (44) (45) (46) (47) (48) (49) (50) (51) (52) (53) (54) (56) (57) (58) (61) (63) (64) (65) (162) L KATU KRCW KOMO KING KOIN KIRO KGW KOPB KPTV KPDX KCPQ TBS KZJO ESPN ESPN2 NICK DISN FAM FMC LIFE ROOT FS1 SPIKE COM HIST A&E TLC DISC NGEO TNT AMC USA FOOD HGTV FX CNN FNC CNBC BRAV TCM SYFY RFD (2) (3) (4) (5) (-) (7) (-) (10) (12) (-) (13) (20) (22) (29) (30) (31) (32) (34) (35) (36) (38) (39) (43) (44) (45) (46) (47) (48) (49) (50) (51) (52) (53) (54) (56) (57) (58) (61) (63) (64) (65) (162) 6 the Department of Ecolo- gy’s Spills program. During the evaluation process, both contractors will consult with Ecology’s technical team, tribes, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Washington and Ore- gon pilots associations, har- bor safety committees, pub- lic ports and other interested groups. Goals of the “Columbia River Vessel Traf¿c Evalua- tion and Safety Risk Assess- ment” include: Reviewing previous analysis; Evaluating the need for tug escorts for oil tankers and other towed vessels or barges; Studying vessel traf¿c man- agement and safety practices; Determining what types of equipment and operations tugs need to safely escort oil vessels; Identifying weaknesses in existing preventative and responsive measures. The ¿nal study will include a report on the amount of new oil being transferred onto ves- sels as a result of rail traf¿c, and a list of safety recom- mendations. The legislature will review the ¿rst draft of the assessment next year. The ¿nal study is slated for com- pletion in 2018. Crude oil transport on the Columbia began in 2012. Ecology’s 2014 Marine and Rail Oil Transportation Study found that between 2011 and 2014, there were 29 ves- sel emergencies with a sub- stantial threat of a spill in the river. Most of these incidents were caused by some type of human error. The average age of the ves- sels that carry oil, liquid chem- icals, grain and other commod- ities in and out of the Columbia is dropping, due to a recent surge in ship-building, accord- ing to the study. The newer ships have better environmen- tal and safety features. How- ever, other industry changes could increase the risk of seri- ous spills, collisions, ground- ings, ¿res and other potentially serious incidents. The study predicted that over the coming years, there LISTINGS A - Charter Astoria/ Seaside - L - Charter Long Beach will be more very large bulk and tank ships on the river, as well as more ships carrying crude oil and liquid chemicals, which have a high potential to cause environmental harm. An overall increase in the vol- ume of ship traf¿c could lead to greater crowding and risk of collisions while vessels are at anchorage. The report noted that the Columbia has a num- ber of unique hazards includ- ing “a dif¿cult bar crossing and challenging navigation constraints,” such as a long, “narrow and twisting” ship- ping channel, limited depth, and especially challenging weather and current condi- tions at the mouth of the river. Evening listings THURSDAY M ARCH 10 PM 6:30 7 PM 7:30 8 PM 8:30 9 PM 9:30 10 PM 10:30 11 PM 11:30 KATU News at 6 Jeopardy! 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