An initiative to remove the so-called “pink Tax” in Arkansas is attempting to go on the ballot again. The Arkansas Period Poverty Project has spent the last several months gathering signatures that would remove the sales and use tax on diapers and menstrual products.
The feminine hygiene products spelled out in the initiative include tampons, panty liners, menstrual cups, sanitary napkins and similar products. Period poverty refers to the financial struggle a person faces to purchase such taxes. The Alliance for Period Supplies cites a 2021study by U by Kotex, which shows as many as two in five people in the U.S. are affected by period poverty. And according to the World Bank, as many as 500 million people across the globe lack access to basic menstrual products.
The Arkansas Period Poverty Project fell short of their needed signature total by about 30,000 on the deadline Friday. The minimum required signatures is 90,704. In a joint statement posted on social media, Project leaders Shannie Jackson and Katie Clark stated all the signatures to the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office at the capitol in Little Rock on July 5. “We chose to submit, though we did not meet our goal, because every signature counts and this shows the state that 43,831 people care about this issue.”
The Alliance for Period Supplies also reports that 25 states and the District of Columbia have eliminated the taxing of period products. That includes the states of Texas and Louisiana. Another five states do not charge a sales tax.
The group plans to try again for the 2026 election. Once their proposal title is approved by the attorney general they will have until summer 2026 to gather enough signatures.
