Lawmakers debating eliminating Georgia's sales tax on diapers

ATLANTA - A new bill on its way through the Georgia state Legislature may help lessen the financial burden on families due to diaper needs.

Advocates say right now the cost of diapers is so steep, families are having to make some tough decisions between paying utilities and getting this health need for their children. 

Infants on average can go through up to a dozen diapers a day to stay clean and dry. With inflation and the lingering cost hikes from supply chain problems due to COVID, the cost of these essentials is creating more strain on families.

Federal support programs like WIC and SNAP do not cover the purchase of diapers.

In Georgia, there is a 4% state sales tax on diapers, but House Bill 211 is attempting to change that.

Georgia Rep. Ron Stephens of Savannah is one of the lawmakers behind the bill. He says he took on the issue to help families.

"It's a philosophical thing.  It's one of those things I think we oughta do. And I'm going to continue to push for it," Stephens said. 

Jamie Lackey is the CEO of nonprofit Helping Mamas, which is dedicated to helping provide essentials like diapers and formula to families. They say the need has grown substantially.

"We feel like diapers are an economic issue.  Without diapers, you can't go to daycare and without daycare, you can't go to work. So diapers are the pathway to family self-sufficiency," Lackey said.

While eliminating the diaper tax isn't a perfect answer to diaper demand, it may help families afford another months-worth of supplies.

A possible hurdle for the bill could be a separate effort to eliminate the state income tax. Stephens says that could make it harder to get support to cut other types of revenue.

Stephens says he expects he and his fellow lawmakers will go until midnight Monday to get House bills through to the state Senate.

While the bill does remove the state sales tax, the local county and city taxes would still exist.