HB 622 — Menstrual Equity for All Act (summary)
Status and context
- Bill short title: Menstrual Equity for All Act (HB 622).
- Primary focus: education funding, tax classification, and access to feminine hygiene products in schools.
- Source text provided is the North Carolina version of HB 622 (2023 session). The bill’s language and legislative actions in the packet show it was advanced through committee and floor action; the act establishes a tax change and a recurring grant appropriation for public schools.
Purpose and intent
- Reduce the financial burden of menstrual hygiene products on consumers and increase access to such products for students in public schools by (1) creating a distinct tax classification for “feminine hygiene products” and exempting them from sales tax, and (2) funding a school grant program that provides feminine hygiene products in schools.
Key provisions
1. New tax definitions (amend G.S. 105‑164.3)
- Adds a statutory definition for “feminine hygiene products”: tampons, panty liners, menstrual cups, sanitary napkins, and similar tangible personal property designed for menstrual hygiene.
- Separately defines “grooming and hygiene products” (e.g., soaps, shampoo, toothpaste) so those remain treated separately for tax purposes.
Sales tax exemption (amend G.S. 105‑164.13)
- Adds “feminine hygiene products” to the list of items exempt from North Carolina sales tax (new subdivision).
Appropriation and grant program (new/related statutory reference G.S. 115C‑377)
- Recurring appropriation of $500,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction (DPI).
- Funds are to be used for a “Feminine Hygiene Products Grant Program” to help provide menstrual products in public schools.
Who would be affected
- Primary beneficiaries: students (particularly low-income students) in public K–12 schools who need access to menstrual products.
- State agencies: Department of Public Instruction (administers the grants).
- Consumers and retailers: sales tax treatment of feminine hygiene products changes (retailers will adjust tax collection practices; consumers no longer pay sales tax on covered products).
- State budget: an ongoing $500,000 appropriation and revenue effects from the sales tax exemption.
Procedural/timeline details
- Effective dates (as drafted in the provided text):
- Sections creating/defining the sales tax exemption (Sections 1 and 2 in the draft) apply to sales made on or after October 1, 2023.
- The remainder of the act (e.g., appropriation and program establishment) is effective July 1, 2023.
- Fiscal implications:
- Direct, recurring expenditure of $500,000 annually for the grant program.
- The exemption will reduce sales-tax receipts to the General Fund to the extent consumers shift purchases to exempted items; the text does not include a revenue estimate.
Notes and limitations
- The summary is based on the bill text and legislative actions included in the provided materials. Exact fiscal impacts (lost sales tax revenue and program administrative costs) would require an official fiscal note or revenue estimate from the state’s fiscal agency.
- The draft distinguishes menstrual products from other personal-care items to target the exemption narrowly.
