Kentucky lawmaker files bill to eliminate 6% sales tax on diapers

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, D-Louisville, filed a bill Monday that would eliminate Kentucky's 6% sales tax on the purchase of diapers.

Chambers Armstrong said one in two Kentucky families struggle to afford the diapers they need, and she's hopefully Senate Bill 97 can ease that burden.

"It's a very simple bill," she said Tuesday. "It has a very simple purpose. It is to help families afford the diapers they need."

In August 2022, Louisville Metro Council asked state legislators to help decrease costs of necessities for children and women. Then-Mayor Greg Fischer signed two resolutions that called for Kentucky legislators to eliminate the state's sales tax on diapers and feminine hygiene products. Members of Metro Council sponsored the resolution that would eliminate a 6% sales tax on the items.

Fischer said at the time that estimates show one child needs around $80 worth of diapers each month, but one in three families in Louisville can't afford that expense.

The city, of course, doesn't have the power to locally change sales tax.

"There are no assistance programs that help cover that cost," Chambers Armstrong said. "Medicaid doesn't cover it. SNAP doesn't cover it. So the purpose of this bill is to help families afford the diapers they need to keep their babies clean, healthy and dry."

SPARC Hope, a single parent resource center in Louisville that helps mothers with essential resources for raising a family, often relies on the state's lone diaper bank, Saint Bernadette Diaper Bank, for their diaper stock.

Sometimes, that isn't enough.

"If (Saint Burnadette's doesn't) have them, that puts a lot of burden on us to go purchase them, which can become rather pricey and knock me off my budget," said Laura Wingfield, executive director of SPARC Hope. "Or our clients have to go out and buy them, and that's a big expense for them."

Wingfield the average 2-year-old goes through about 240 diapers a month.

"Just what they would save in sales tax on buying diapers they didn't have to buy, that's a big deal," Wingfield said. "$5 means a whole lot when you don't have a lot of wiggle room."

SB 97 is awaiting committee hearing before advancing but is co-sponsored by Democrats and Republicans. It has already received bipartisan support.

Chambers Armstrong, a former Louisville Metro Councilwoman, is hopeful the bill will be the catalyst for change at a state level.

"It's a really common sense, common ground piece of legislation," she said.

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