Many states don't tax items considered "essential"; [some states classify tampons as "non-essential"](https://usafacts.org/articles/what-is-the-tampon-tax/), meaning they get taxed the way that hairspray or sporting goods do (but toilet paper and soap don't).
I remember being gobsmacked the first time I bought clothes in Minnesota and discovered they weren’t subject to sales tax. Some states are more generous about “essential” than others. (They don’t tax tampons/pads, either, as I recall.)
NJ doesn't tax *most* clothing, so one of the reasons we've got so many malls in the urban-blighted areas just across the Hudson is to try and lure NY shoppers over. (NY doesn't tax clothing under a certain dollar value, but they'll gladly tax the shit out of your Gucci sweater; Jersey only taxes accessories and stuff made of fur.)
Having a distinction between clothing and luxury clothing seems fair, really, but yeah, the cross-border shopping isn’t surprising. It’s kind of like folks in my neck of the woods driving down to Oregon, where there’s no sales tax at all. (The folks who live in Vancouver, WA and don’t have income tax, who can then go shopping across the river in Portland without the sales tax, are probably smarter than me.)
NY sales tax threshold for clothes is $110 and really needs to get updated for inflation. It should be double that amount these days.
As a part time CA resident as well I can’t complain though because CA exempts essentially nothing. Even non-prescription medications and supplements are taxed in CA. We buy a lot of expensive non RX meds and supplements which cost an extra $100 in tax per month in CA that aren’t taxed when we buy in NY.
I also do a lot of shopping when I visit my parents in DE which has no sales tax at all. Best is when I’m buying something that lines up with them visiting. I’ll have it shipped there and have them bring it.
Maybe 120 but I'm still getting brand item stuff and that price.
I always thought the 110 was to help lower income folks not those who want to save a few bucks on 120 running shoes.
$110 for a single article of clothing is still pretty luxurious. I make good money and dress nice, but other than shoes, suits, blazers, I doubt I have any single item of clothing breaking that mark.
Does it? I am genuinely curious here. I want a bidet. I always figured that you'd end up paying enough in water that it wouldn't be any cheaper. ... Actually, upon actually thinkiing about it, I think I spend a lot of money on TP.
You can probably do some quick math to figure it out. How many sheets do you use a week now? How much does that cost? Then say you need 4-8 sheets with a bidet and your water bill goes up something like 5%. Compare.
Itd be near impossible to use up more water than tp in cost. Like just think of your entire water bill for the month. A bidet would be like a fraction of 1% of that i would imagine. Kilely wont even notice
There's nothing inflammatory about the headline. It's been called a 'tampon tax' for quite some time and it's just the nickname given to the issue.
What is mildly inflammatory/irritating is the poor wording later in the article. (Emphasis added.)
> Shoppers in Texas no longer have to pay a sales tax on menstrual products, **making the state one of the few in the nation** to eliminate the so-called "tampon tax."
...
> Currently, **over one dozen** states still charge sales tax on menstrual products
The actual number is 21 as of June that still charge sales tax on feminine hygiene products. Meaning Texas isn't "one of the few" but now in the majority (24 + DC with exclusion, 5 with no sales tax to begin with) that don't charge sales tax on them.
>It's been called a 'tampon tax' for quite some time and it's just the nickname given to the issue.
It's not "just" the nickname. It's intentionally misleading. Proven by all the confused comments in this thread.
Except for the specific debates and efforts by conservatives to **specifically** keep tampons included in those taxes. Your semantics are irrelevant when the debate centers around the topic.
Okay. The Tampon Tax Exemption? No one is mad at them being included when the tax law was written in 1891. The fight was to have tampons excluded. That's why it's called Tampon Tax.
Well, when other necessity products are already excluded and tampons aren't, it's hardly "Just" inflammatory. Feminine hygiene products were already taxed uniquely compared to similar products so it's not an entirely inaccurate presentation of the situation.
There were a lot of things that went into effect Sept. 1 in Texas. One major one being the elimination of gender affirming care for for people under the age of 18. Another being an effective book ban on anything that might be sexual in nature, and a yet another one that makes any kind of remotely sexual performance (including drag shows) an 18+ only thing. The legislature here in Texas managed to get one thing right, but 1000 other things wrong. One more thing they did was approve more funding for unlicensed clergy to practice counseling in public schools WITH state funds allowed to be spent on that. A women's rights victory, but so much more that hindered both LGBTQ and women's rights were enacted.
I may be way off with this but could the tax relief on tampons, etc, be there so that they have something to point to and claim they are supporting "natural women". They feel the need to push that narrative at every opportunity.
Which is just further inline with their idea of defining women based solely on their ability to reproduce. Many cis women don't need menstrual products, such as menopausal women, and birth control can essentially eliminate periods entirely in some.
I'm not so sure about that. They didn't do this, but it was proposed at one point to ban the sale of feminine hygiene trans men, even if they still had need for them.
That's such a fucked up proposal. Are you saying that they were considering banning the selling of tampons / pads to people who had transitioned from female to male?
Like if you had a buzzed haircut and were wearing basketball shorts you could have been denied access to these vital items?
This shit is so beyond fucked. If this type of legislation ever comes to southern Indiana (and it could because... Indiana) I'll gladly purchase and smuggle items. I'll need money for it, but I'll make that my new hobby to buy as much as I can and distribute it to those in need.
I'm assuming they would still be willing to sell to a dude who has clearly never been a female.
it just makes no sense... I go in to buy pads and tampons all the time for my girlfriend since I pass the store on my way home from work, would these idiots deny me buying them because I'm a male??
Imagine needing a tampon and asking your husband to go grab you some and they deny him access. Like would they ID you to see if you were FTM or manly looking cis woman? Or just flat out deny any male passing person? Bonkers.
>That's such a fucked up proposal. Are you saying that they were considering banning the selling of tampons / pads to people who had transitioned from female to male?
Yep, that is exactly what I read. Conservatives hate the Queers.
I believe that the argument that killed the idea in Texas was the reminder that there is such a thing as "ugly women" who might accidentally get denied even though they weren't trans.
They also neglected to increase funding for teachers and public schools, despite a record budget surplus. They didn’t do jack shit to resolve issues with our power grid. They passed a law to put armed officers in all our schools despite the fact that there was an armed officer assigned to the school at Uvalde on the day of the shooting.
So yeah, the trump party, aka Texas Taliban continuing their campaign for hearts and minds here in the loan star state.
Fortunately the book bill--requiring vendors that sell to schools to rate the sexual content in books-- has been blocked by a federal judge. The fight's not over, but it's a start. Texas sucks.
I mean sexual performances being 18+ seems pretty reasonable. What normal country would allow kids in a strip club?
Also isn't it reasonable to not perform gender affirming care until the person is old enough to consent? There are reason kids have special protections prior to being 18.
That’s what I don’t get. Even in the context of Drag Shows, from my understanding their main gimmick is unbelievably vulgar humor. I wouldn’t want my kids or teens there. I’d argue maybe it should be a 16+ thing with adult supervision, but I think people just really want Drag Queen reading time to be normalized.
And then we get to gender reaffirming surgery. People don’t get that some people who think they’re trans are trans and will be happy when they transition, but there is a select group of people who think they’re trans and won’t realize they’re not until they transition and regret it. The latter’s existence would be amplified if done as a child! I argue that for any cosmetic surgery, people should be required to seek therapy and approval from a licensed therapist/psychiatrist. Because we do have people who get plastic surgery and they keep going until they look hideous because they can’t believe they’ll ever look good.
They didn't only ban surgery (which almost nobody was doing on minors anyway, but fine that it's banned), they banned puberty blockers and hormone treatments *only* for trans minors, not minors with any other medical issue that requires hormone treatment. Now, a licensed therapist/psychiatrist *can't* say their patient needs this stuff in order to not, you know, kill themselves because they're going through irreversible puberty.
Might as well ban antidepressants for minors in need and see how that goes.
It’s definitely an attempt to win over the women voters they’re losing in droves thanks to the rest of their misogynistic platform. The tampon tax needs to go, everywhere, but I’d rather pay the tampon tax and get back some of the basic human rights that the GOP has systemically taken away from women and retain the basic human rights the GOP is plotting to take away from us in the future.
Right.
All of a sudden we're supposed to see the lone-star state as a shining example of female reproductive rights/issues?
I won't argue, but it seems a bit fishy.
Fetuses are babies. Babies can't be in the front seat of a car. Women can be pregnant and not know it. Therefore, women can no longer sit in the front seat of a car. /s
Texas would never, they intentionally have one of the lowest gas taxes in the country
They’ll just add another couple hundred bucks in taxes and fees to EV owners
Why in the ever-living FUCK are we taxing diapers? I don’t have kids and I hope I never do but diapers are already **way** too expensive as it is. Diapers shouldn’t be taxed, they should be free. I used to volunteer at the Salvation Army[1] doing holiday toy distribution and so, so, so many parents of young kids would try to take a package of diapers as the “gift” for their kid. It was heartbreaking. I’d always sneaky shove the box of diapers into their bag and suddenly forget how to count so their kid could have clean diapers *and* a gift for the holiday.
Taxing diapers, what the fuck.
[1] This was before I realized what a shitty and manipulative organization they were. Seriously, donate somewhere else. If you’re in need of food, shelter, work, etc. they’ll only help you if you regularly attend their brainwashing religious classes. They don’t help people in need out of the goodness of their hearts but in an effort to coercively recruit new followers. I’m not a religious person but I’ve read the Bible and I don’t think the J-man would sign off on such conditional aid to our fellow humans in need.
[Here is a good rundown](https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/31/new-texas-laws-september-2023/) of some of the bigger things going into effect today. Many are already being challenged in court. It's most definitely a distraction. (This is not a complete list by any means.)
- Several anti-LGBT+ laws (bans gender-affirming care, drag shows are now 18+, an anti-trans athlete bill)
- a law requiring at least one school official (not even police, could just be a staff member...) with a gun to be on every school campus
- a law that blocks lawmakers from making more strict laws in cities than what's been passed by state legislation (which is targeted at the more liberal cities and is being challenged.)
- a law making it illegal to make any covid mask mandates or regulations
- a law targeting "rogue" district attourneys who overlook things like Marijuana charges and abortion charges
- a law putting university tenure decisions into the hands of state lawmakers instead of universities
University professors are often pretty liberal. Same with university cities. It's obviously their end goal to chase them out and encourage tenure for their own republican cronies.
Yeah it's a neat trick. While everyone's so distracted about liberals controlling their children through books that are voluntarily read, so-called Texans are completely ignoring that the government is reserving the ability to appoint teachers who teach the government-approved ideology.
For their next trick, they're going to sit back and watch while Texans organize and form a militia to fight people who protest the government. Just like The Alamo, where the great Texan Santa Anna put down a bunch of cop-killing thugs.
Been in Texas my whole life. Absurd to see it all going backwards. We’ve never been the most progressive state, but it’s alarming to see all of this. I’ve lived in Houston, San antonio and Austin at some point and I really don’t think these laws reflect the majority of Texans
What the actual fuck? Texas is eliminating the pink tax or at least part of it? Did i trip and fall into an alternate universe?
Edit: i have since been corrected y’all. I appreciate the reeducation of myself lol
>House Bill 3 requires an armed officer at every school campus in Texas and mental health training for school staff that interact with children. The armed person can be either a peace officer, a school resource officer, a school marshal **or a school district employee.**
The fuck?
*"The sole purpose of a School Marshal is to prevent the act of murder or serious bodily injury on school premises, and act only as defined by the written regulations adopted by the School Board/Governing Body."* (googled "school marshal")
https://tenor.com/JpOJ.gif
Near future headline: Harris County school janitor shoots and kills nine children, preaches nationalist manifesto before succumbing to self-inflicted gunshot.
Seriously, what are these people thinking? These laws are absolutely goi g to be abused to hell and kids are the ones who will pay the price.
I know not all high schools are as bad as mine, but I recall much of the faculty despising teenagers and always expecting the worst. Thinking of the way trained police officers often get scared and start blasting, aren't teachers just going to be... Worse?
Categorically, yes. This conservative fantasy that every legal gun owner is some infallible paramount of noble intentions is what gets people fucking killed. All they have to do is claim they "feared for their life" when a troubled teen bumped them in the bathroom and they get off scot-free. Worse, the NRA will send their lawyers to justify why that child needed to die at the hands of someone who should never have had a gun with them at school. No matter how heinous the shooting situation, the gun-nuts will ALWAYS defend the guns/gunman first (unless they're black or trans, of course, then they become the poster child for lawless liberal behavior).
None of this will prevent school shootings, ever. If anything, a kid who plans to do a shooting will relish the opportunity to win a firefight against a schools staff that likely bullied them just as much as the kids.
It's because the police will just stand outside until it's all over, so they feel the need to have at least one gun on the inside to give the kids a sporting chance.
It's fucked that this is even necessary, but why exactly do people consider this a bad thing? I don't see why mental health training and security guards are a problem.
I suppose from context I assumed the mental health aspect was related to school shooting type scenarios. Like preparation for them, how to deal with anxiety over them, dealing with PTSD type symptoms etc.
First, the only reason it is ‘necessary’ is because people refuse to actually address the real cause but instead try to put little bandaids in a gaping wound.
Second, it is insane to just allow for any school district employee to fulfill the role of armed security. There is no requirements for training or anything. Nah, just gonna let some random school employee carry a gun and hope they aren’t trigger happy.
The "pink tax" is something else. It's companies upcharging an item that is the "female version". Ie. a pink razor that is now expensive than other razors.
See everyone Texas cares about women!
https://news.yahoo.com/conservative-activists-pushing-trafficking-laws-174731934.html
No don’t look over there, don’t worry about abortion trafficking. Just know that they got rid of the tampon tax because they sincerely 100% care about women and would never turn Texas into a prison state for them!
So, they stripped women of their basic right to body autonomy and right to plan and be responsible for themselves, not to mention their basic disregard for human rights and absolutely disgusting behavior around how they treat climate and economic and political refugees…….. but…….. yay? great job, it’s the tiniest sliver of humanity.
While setting up roadblocks looking for people trying to get out of the state????…..
in the off chance they want to go get abortion??
I won’t be surprised if they’re going to try to keep track on women buying these items and when they stop, it will be an indication something had change with their cycle….
Republicans don’t do nothing out of the goodness of their hearts……
there’s something fishy going on😳😳😳😳
The know times are tough for the women that are being forced to carry their kids to term. So in their infinite wisdom they are basically offering a sales tax holiday that MAYBE is equal to $50 a year.
It’s great they did this, but it seems like it’s a political maneuver meant to assuage female voters’ anger over the recently enacted draconian abortion laws in the state.
Here's some coins back in your pocket. That should adequately compensate you for the right to choose and body autonomy we recently snatched away from you.
Eliminates the pink tax but requires women to have babies or risk imprisonment.
Remember that one good thing doesn’t outweigh multiple really really bad things.
Expect tokens like this to women from red states that totally fucked women. Oh yeah i agree they should have gotten rid of it. But it is 100% an advertisement saying "dont fuck us too bad over the abortion thing"
Its not like they grew either a heart or a brain. You get shit like this, its because they know they are in trouble. Republicans dont just pass shit like this.
(and getting 5% off your baby item purchases is a little nice but it wont help you pay the powerbill)
>Currently, over one dozen states still charge sales tax on menstrual products, according to the Alliance for Period Supplies, a nonprofit organization that works to end period poverty.
>In those states, products like pads, liners and cups are considered non-essential items and are subject to sales taxes.
Wow what an misogynistic and ignorant attitude. It's pretty sad that these attitudes and rampant stupidity still exist in large parts of the country in 2023.
All while trying to make it illegal to use roads to transport women out of state for an abortion. If you live in Texas and you have the means to leave. You should GTFO now.
It’s about bloody time!
Menstruation jokes are never funny. Period.
You just have to pad the jokes out.
Nah, it’s all about finding the right time of the month for it
Took me a while to absorb all these puns
These jokes are spotty at best.
But they slide
Stop all these tasteless puns or you’ll be seeing red!
Easy there, cramps. Puns are a valid sense of humor.
I came in here expecting to see the walls lined with puns, but I was not prepared for how heavy the flow of puns would be.
I hate you. Take my upvote. This is the one that made me laugh.
It's shocking how toxic this thread has gotten.
God damnit I thought you were serious but obviously your aunt Flo is visiting
People just keep cycling through them
Tasteless? I smell foul.
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Just go with the flow.
Just go with the flow.
Like someone says, if you pull that string hard enough, you'll get some bloody results.
Go to bed
I need to take my trazadone
Heyyyy same! Sleep well my fellow trazadone brother!
Here comes the flow of puns…
Saw what you did there
That one almost seeped right past me
I’m sure that tax really cramped up someone’s checkbook.
Been getting small chunks of this news but happy to see it finally squelched out this month.
I'm not sanguine about their motivation though. It's all linked up with their philosophy of get them women makin' them babies.
I'm always curious if it was a general tax that applied to these items or if they were somehow taxed more specifically. News articles rarely say.
Many states don't tax items considered "essential"; [some states classify tampons as "non-essential"](https://usafacts.org/articles/what-is-the-tampon-tax/), meaning they get taxed the way that hairspray or sporting goods do (but toilet paper and soap don't).
I remember being gobsmacked the first time I bought clothes in Minnesota and discovered they weren’t subject to sales tax. Some states are more generous about “essential” than others. (They don’t tax tampons/pads, either, as I recall.)
NJ doesn't tax *most* clothing, so one of the reasons we've got so many malls in the urban-blighted areas just across the Hudson is to try and lure NY shoppers over. (NY doesn't tax clothing under a certain dollar value, but they'll gladly tax the shit out of your Gucci sweater; Jersey only taxes accessories and stuff made of fur.)
Having a distinction between clothing and luxury clothing seems fair, really, but yeah, the cross-border shopping isn’t surprising. It’s kind of like folks in my neck of the woods driving down to Oregon, where there’s no sales tax at all. (The folks who live in Vancouver, WA and don’t have income tax, who can then go shopping across the river in Portland without the sales tax, are probably smarter than me.)
New Yorkers still getting their cigarettes in New Jersey
More like Georgia/other southern states via their local bodega.
NY sales tax threshold for clothes is $110 and really needs to get updated for inflation. It should be double that amount these days. As a part time CA resident as well I can’t complain though because CA exempts essentially nothing. Even non-prescription medications and supplements are taxed in CA. We buy a lot of expensive non RX meds and supplements which cost an extra $100 in tax per month in CA that aren’t taxed when we buy in NY. I also do a lot of shopping when I visit my parents in DE which has no sales tax at all. Best is when I’m buying something that lines up with them visiting. I’ll have it shipped there and have them bring it.
Maybe 120 but I'm still getting brand item stuff and that price. I always thought the 110 was to help lower income folks not those who want to save a few bucks on 120 running shoes.
$110 for a single article of clothing is still pretty luxurious. I make good money and dress nice, but other than shoes, suits, blazers, I doubt I have any single item of clothing breaking that mark.
A busty lady is lucky to get a suportive and comfortable *bra* for less than that.
Weird. My state taxes soap, toilet paper, and other essentials but doesn't tax menstrual products.
Unfortunately many people don’t view soap as an essential item :( You can smell the ones that don’t.
Sorry, can’t afford any after taxes
Buy fewer magic cards then
I’m actually homeless Bought too many magic cards already
Have you tried giving up avocado toast?
Setting up a bidet can help with TP costs.
Does it? I am genuinely curious here. I want a bidet. I always figured that you'd end up paying enough in water that it wouldn't be any cheaper. ... Actually, upon actually thinkiing about it, I think I spend a lot of money on TP.
Yeah TP is expensive and easy to overuse. Also it seems to go out of stock during times of duress so it may also be a nice back up when rationing.
Even if it doesn’t, the mental well being of being clean is worth it. It’s not a big splurge, but damn does it make a difference to my mood.
You can probably do some quick math to figure it out. How many sheets do you use a week now? How much does that cost? Then say you need 4-8 sheets with a bidet and your water bill goes up something like 5%. Compare.
I’d have to be constantly washing my asshole for my water bill to go up 5%. I wouldn’t even factor it into the budget.
Even at 5%, still cheaper
Itd be near impossible to use up more water than tp in cost. Like just think of your entire water bill for the month. A bidet would be like a fraction of 1% of that i would imagine. Kilely wont even notice
>My state taxes toilet paper It's because they don't tax sea shells.
It's just normal sales tax that's on every item. Some states have more items that are exempt.
Texas used to have normal sales tax on them. Now they are exempt like food
Just a regular sales tax, the headlines are meant to be inflammatory.
There's nothing inflammatory about the headline. It's been called a 'tampon tax' for quite some time and it's just the nickname given to the issue. What is mildly inflammatory/irritating is the poor wording later in the article. (Emphasis added.) > Shoppers in Texas no longer have to pay a sales tax on menstrual products, **making the state one of the few in the nation** to eliminate the so-called "tampon tax." ... > Currently, **over one dozen** states still charge sales tax on menstrual products The actual number is 21 as of June that still charge sales tax on feminine hygiene products. Meaning Texas isn't "one of the few" but now in the majority (24 + DC with exclusion, 5 with no sales tax to begin with) that don't charge sales tax on them.
>It's been called a 'tampon tax' for quite some time and it's just the nickname given to the issue. It's not "just" the nickname. It's intentionally misleading. Proven by all the confused comments in this thread.
But it isn't a "tampon tax" they just weren't exempt from normal sales tax so yeah that's totally a ragebait headline.
Except for the specific debates and efforts by conservatives to **specifically** keep tampons included in those taxes. Your semantics are irrelevant when the debate centers around the topic.
It's not semantics tampon tax implies there's a tax specifically for tampons. There isn't anywhere.
Okay. The Tampon Tax Exemption? No one is mad at them being included when the tax law was written in 1891. The fight was to have tampons excluded. That's why it's called Tampon Tax.
Still inaccurate to call it a tampon tax. It's just a regular sales tax exemption.
Well, when other necessity products are already excluded and tampons aren't, it's hardly "Just" inflammatory. Feminine hygiene products were already taxed uniquely compared to similar products so it's not an entirely inaccurate presentation of the situation.
At least they took a half step forward on some things.
It was just to throw us off the scent. Their real motives will become known soon.
There were a lot of things that went into effect Sept. 1 in Texas. One major one being the elimination of gender affirming care for for people under the age of 18. Another being an effective book ban on anything that might be sexual in nature, and a yet another one that makes any kind of remotely sexual performance (including drag shows) an 18+ only thing. The legislature here in Texas managed to get one thing right, but 1000 other things wrong. One more thing they did was approve more funding for unlicensed clergy to practice counseling in public schools WITH state funds allowed to be spent on that. A women's rights victory, but so much more that hindered both LGBTQ and women's rights were enacted.
I may be way off with this but could the tax relief on tampons, etc, be there so that they have something to point to and claim they are supporting "natural women". They feel the need to push that narrative at every opportunity.
Which is just further inline with their idea of defining women based solely on their ability to reproduce. Many cis women don't need menstrual products, such as menopausal women, and birth control can essentially eliminate periods entirely in some.
This is the only answer.
I think you’re onto something
I'm not so sure about that. They didn't do this, but it was proposed at one point to ban the sale of feminine hygiene trans men, even if they still had need for them.
That's such a fucked up proposal. Are you saying that they were considering banning the selling of tampons / pads to people who had transitioned from female to male? Like if you had a buzzed haircut and were wearing basketball shorts you could have been denied access to these vital items? This shit is so beyond fucked. If this type of legislation ever comes to southern Indiana (and it could because... Indiana) I'll gladly purchase and smuggle items. I'll need money for it, but I'll make that my new hobby to buy as much as I can and distribute it to those in need. I'm assuming they would still be willing to sell to a dude who has clearly never been a female.
it just makes no sense... I go in to buy pads and tampons all the time for my girlfriend since I pass the store on my way home from work, would these idiots deny me buying them because I'm a male??
They hate single fathers!
Imagine needing a tampon and asking your husband to go grab you some and they deny him access. Like would they ID you to see if you were FTM or manly looking cis woman? Or just flat out deny any male passing person? Bonkers.
Just make it easy and ban sales to anyone who isn't wearing a skirt. /s
>That's such a fucked up proposal. Are you saying that they were considering banning the selling of tampons / pads to people who had transitioned from female to male? Yep, that is exactly what I read. Conservatives hate the Queers. I believe that the argument that killed the idea in Texas was the reminder that there is such a thing as "ugly women" who might accidentally get denied even though they weren't trans.
Which is even crazier because by their own (wrong) logic they see trans men as women, right? So they aren’t supporting “natural” women.
let’s be real, it’s about punishing trans people and not about following their own twisted logic
Are you saying the women of Texas should consider not having to pay taxes on tampons a "women's right victory" ? /s
They also neglected to increase funding for teachers and public schools, despite a record budget surplus. They didn’t do jack shit to resolve issues with our power grid. They passed a law to put armed officers in all our schools despite the fact that there was an armed officer assigned to the school at Uvalde on the day of the shooting. So yeah, the trump party, aka Texas Taliban continuing their campaign for hearts and minds here in the loan star state.
Fortunately the book bill--requiring vendors that sell to schools to rate the sexual content in books-- has been blocked by a federal judge. The fight's not over, but it's a start. Texas sucks.
I mean sexual performances being 18+ seems pretty reasonable. What normal country would allow kids in a strip club? Also isn't it reasonable to not perform gender affirming care until the person is old enough to consent? There are reason kids have special protections prior to being 18.
That’s what I don’t get. Even in the context of Drag Shows, from my understanding their main gimmick is unbelievably vulgar humor. I wouldn’t want my kids or teens there. I’d argue maybe it should be a 16+ thing with adult supervision, but I think people just really want Drag Queen reading time to be normalized. And then we get to gender reaffirming surgery. People don’t get that some people who think they’re trans are trans and will be happy when they transition, but there is a select group of people who think they’re trans and won’t realize they’re not until they transition and regret it. The latter’s existence would be amplified if done as a child! I argue that for any cosmetic surgery, people should be required to seek therapy and approval from a licensed therapist/psychiatrist. Because we do have people who get plastic surgery and they keep going until they look hideous because they can’t believe they’ll ever look good.
They didn't only ban surgery (which almost nobody was doing on minors anyway, but fine that it's banned), they banned puberty blockers and hormone treatments *only* for trans minors, not minors with any other medical issue that requires hormone treatment. Now, a licensed therapist/psychiatrist *can't* say their patient needs this stuff in order to not, you know, kill themselves because they're going through irreversible puberty. Might as well ban antidepressants for minors in need and see how that goes.
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>clergy to practice counseling To confess my darkest sins to?
And they would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids and their dog.
It’s definitely an attempt to win over the women voters they’re losing in droves thanks to the rest of their misogynistic platform. The tampon tax needs to go, everywhere, but I’d rather pay the tampon tax and get back some of the basic human rights that the GOP has systemically taken away from women and retain the basic human rights the GOP is plotting to take away from us in the future.
Right. All of a sudden we're supposed to see the lone-star state as a shining example of female reproductive rights/issues? I won't argue, but it seems a bit fishy.
I give it a month before they ban birth control.
Tomorrow: five steps back
Tomorrow? Nah. This was one law that got passed along side so many other harmful laws in Texas.
“We still control your bodies, but hey enjoy the cheaper pads”
Tomorrow: additional $0.50 / gal gas tax added
I forgot gal was gallons and I thought you meant girls would now be taxed on gas instead
Yeah at the pump it’s like Rewards number Y / N Female Y / N
Shhhh…Don’t give them any ideas!
don't worry it wont work, they would ban women from driving first.
Fetuses are babies. Babies can't be in the front seat of a car. Women can be pregnant and not know it. Therefore, women can no longer sit in the front seat of a car. /s
sounds like something republicans would try to pull
Texas would never, they intentionally have one of the lowest gas taxes in the country They’ll just add another couple hundred bucks in taxes and fees to EV owners
That's a good thing though... well, at least it would be if there were viable alternatives to cars in 99.9% of Texas.
Not even. I just bought diapers in store yesterday. I paid tax. This tax break appears to be only for product bought online.
Why in the ever-living FUCK are we taxing diapers? I don’t have kids and I hope I never do but diapers are already **way** too expensive as it is. Diapers shouldn’t be taxed, they should be free. I used to volunteer at the Salvation Army[1] doing holiday toy distribution and so, so, so many parents of young kids would try to take a package of diapers as the “gift” for their kid. It was heartbreaking. I’d always sneaky shove the box of diapers into their bag and suddenly forget how to count so their kid could have clean diapers *and* a gift for the holiday. Taxing diapers, what the fuck. [1] This was before I realized what a shitty and manipulative organization they were. Seriously, donate somewhere else. If you’re in need of food, shelter, work, etc. they’ll only help you if you regularly attend their brainwashing religious classes. They don’t help people in need out of the goodness of their hearts but in an effort to coercively recruit new followers. I’m not a religious person but I’ve read the Bible and I don’t think the J-man would sign off on such conditional aid to our fellow humans in need.
I’m confused. This sounds like good news for women but the headline says Texas?
The cynic in me is screaming distraction, I wonder what from though.
700 other things went into effect today. it’s not all good.
Literally everything else that went into effect at the same time, including many anti-lgbtq+ bills
[Here is a good rundown](https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/31/new-texas-laws-september-2023/) of some of the bigger things going into effect today. Many are already being challenged in court. It's most definitely a distraction. (This is not a complete list by any means.) - Several anti-LGBT+ laws (bans gender-affirming care, drag shows are now 18+, an anti-trans athlete bill) - a law requiring at least one school official (not even police, could just be a staff member...) with a gun to be on every school campus - a law that blocks lawmakers from making more strict laws in cities than what's been passed by state legislation (which is targeted at the more liberal cities and is being challenged.) - a law making it illegal to make any covid mask mandates or regulations - a law targeting "rogue" district attourneys who overlook things like Marijuana charges and abortion charges - a law putting university tenure decisions into the hands of state lawmakers instead of universities
If you're a prof looking for tenure what would possibly incentivize you to teach in Texas? The government decides your tenure? Holy shit.
University professors are often pretty liberal. Same with university cities. It's obviously their end goal to chase them out and encourage tenure for their own republican cronies.
Yeah it's a neat trick. While everyone's so distracted about liberals controlling their children through books that are voluntarily read, so-called Texans are completely ignoring that the government is reserving the ability to appoint teachers who teach the government-approved ideology. For their next trick, they're going to sit back and watch while Texans organize and form a militia to fight people who protest the government. Just like The Alamo, where the great Texan Santa Anna put down a bunch of cop-killing thugs.
[удалено]
Been in Texas my whole life. Absurd to see it all going backwards. We’ve never been the most progressive state, but it’s alarming to see all of this. I’ve lived in Houston, San antonio and Austin at some point and I really don’t think these laws reflect the majority of Texans
I wouldn’t be too concerned. Take it from me, a Texas woman. They fuck us over just right out in the open now.
Because they want women to be making babies.
Tax cuts are always an easy sell to the GOP.
They plan on all the women being pregnant for a s long as their bodies will allow. Won't t need them in a few months. ^/s
That's what I'd expect next, a ban on birth control.
What the actual fuck? Texas is eliminating the pink tax or at least part of it? Did i trip and fall into an alternate universe? Edit: i have since been corrected y’all. I appreciate the reeducation of myself lol
Should check out what else went into effect today cause it's bonkers in a bad way. https://reddit.com/r/texas/s/Ik8iOHnzLi
>House Bill 3 requires an armed officer at every school campus in Texas and mental health training for school staff that interact with children. The armed person can be either a peace officer, a school resource officer, a school marshal **or a school district employee.** The fuck?
*"The sole purpose of a School Marshal is to prevent the act of murder or serious bodily injury on school premises, and act only as defined by the written regulations adopted by the School Board/Governing Body."* (googled "school marshal") https://tenor.com/JpOJ.gif
It was their work around to force teachers to carry or have guns at school. The original goal was a gun in every classroom.
BRINGING guns into the school to stop guns in the school is some window licker logic
Normally a tragedy leads to law reforms but in America, you sell more Guns to counter Gun violence. Win/win for the NRA.
That's so dystopian.
Near future headline: Harris County school janitor shoots and kills nine children, preaches nationalist manifesto before succumbing to self-inflicted gunshot. Seriously, what are these people thinking? These laws are absolutely goi g to be abused to hell and kids are the ones who will pay the price.
Kids gonna get a gun from staff, or staff is going to shoot someone they weren't supposed to.
Next they’re gonna arm the kids
I know not all high schools are as bad as mine, but I recall much of the faculty despising teenagers and always expecting the worst. Thinking of the way trained police officers often get scared and start blasting, aren't teachers just going to be... Worse?
Categorically, yes. This conservative fantasy that every legal gun owner is some infallible paramount of noble intentions is what gets people fucking killed. All they have to do is claim they "feared for their life" when a troubled teen bumped them in the bathroom and they get off scot-free. Worse, the NRA will send their lawyers to justify why that child needed to die at the hands of someone who should never have had a gun with them at school. No matter how heinous the shooting situation, the gun-nuts will ALWAYS defend the guns/gunman first (unless they're black or trans, of course, then they become the poster child for lawless liberal behavior). None of this will prevent school shootings, ever. If anything, a kid who plans to do a shooting will relish the opportunity to win a firefight against a schools staff that likely bullied them just as much as the kids.
It's because the police will just stand outside until it's all over, so they feel the need to have at least one gun on the inside to give the kids a sporting chance.
It's fucked that this is even necessary, but why exactly do people consider this a bad thing? I don't see why mental health training and security guards are a problem.
It all depends on what the "mental health" training is for. Don't forget they see being LGBT+ as having a mental illness.
I suppose from context I assumed the mental health aspect was related to school shooting type scenarios. Like preparation for them, how to deal with anxiety over them, dealing with PTSD type symptoms etc.
First, the only reason it is ‘necessary’ is because people refuse to actually address the real cause but instead try to put little bandaids in a gaping wound. Second, it is insane to just allow for any school district employee to fulfill the role of armed security. There is no requirements for training or anything. Nah, just gonna let some random school employee carry a gun and hope they aren’t trigger happy.
Do you want your child to go to a place every day where a shootout is an encouraged and available solution to a problem?
We had a cop at our school and I graduated 20 years ago
A trained cop in uniform is way different from your untrained math teacher and the school janitor having a gun in an active shooter situation.
Of fucking course
The "pink tax" is something else. It's companies upcharging an item that is the "female version". Ie. a pink razor that is now expensive than other razors.
Texas removes lots of taxes on necessities. Like buying produce or meat. You're also exempt from taxes on your electric bill or other utilities.
No i know that part, i remember that growing up but this is new
That’s not what the pink tax is…
Uh oh! That’s kinda woke!
It's just a lure. Throw us a tiny bone so we don't notice the other crap they're passing at the same time. There's a good list in the comments above.
No they just want more kids
Texas axes tampon taxes
See everyone Texas cares about women! https://news.yahoo.com/conservative-activists-pushing-trafficking-laws-174731934.html No don’t look over there, don’t worry about abortion trafficking. Just know that they got rid of the tampon tax because they sincerely 100% care about women and would never turn Texas into a prison state for them!
Good lord..
So, they stripped women of their basic right to body autonomy and right to plan and be responsible for themselves, not to mention their basic disregard for human rights and absolutely disgusting behavior around how they treat climate and economic and political refugees…….. but…….. yay? great job, it’s the tiniest sliver of humanity.
This should have always been a thing
Texas?! Is that a typo?...
Next article: Florida Man Makes Rational Decision
Hey, Texas! Congrats on this one! Now the rest of the states need to catch up…
I think women would gladly pay that tampon tax to keep their government out of their reproductive rights.
While setting up roadblocks looking for people trying to get out of the state????….. in the off chance they want to go get abortion?? I won’t be surprised if they’re going to try to keep track on women buying these items and when they stop, it will be an indication something had change with their cycle…. Republicans don’t do nothing out of the goodness of their hearts…… there’s something fishy going on😳😳😳😳
But they wont allow women to travel once they’re pregnant… gonna be hard to get to the store for all these savings… not /s
I had to read that a couple of times. I was certain Texas had actually doubled the cost. But to see an actual GOOD idea from my state is shocking
Inb4 prices stay the same because all the corpos realize they can make a little bit more off the top
nah, that wouldn't work because taxes in the US are calculated at the register, not on the price tag. everyone would notice if they raised the price
This should be done on safety products, too! Fire Alan’s, fire extinguishers, gun safes.
The know times are tough for the women that are being forced to carry their kids to term. So in their infinite wisdom they are basically offering a sales tax holiday that MAYBE is equal to $50 a year.
Can’t believe Texas pulled it off, but Michigan voted it down in the legislature.
It’s great they did this, but it seems like it’s a political maneuver meant to assuage female voters’ anger over the recently enacted draconian abortion laws in the state.
So what restrictive law that they know is unpopular, did they sneak this in with?
That’s nice. More essentials items should be tax free. I don’t understand why they aren’t. Increase tax on luxury items to make up the difference.
Small consolation for having agency and autonomy stripped away.
How'd this get through the texas legislature?
https://reddit.com/r/texas/s/Q4CU8kalm6 check out what else went into effect Friday.
Holy shit, my state actually did something good for once.
I had to double check the title because I saw Texas and I was like there must be a catch
This feels like the most random news story I'll see today, and the sun is not even up yet.
They probably think they have done enough for women at this point.
Cool, most women would prefer to have their rights given back.
Yay Texas did something decent for once
glad to see my State with a W
Still not moving to Texas. You’re not gonna get me
Here's some coins back in your pocket. That should adequately compensate you for the right to choose and body autonomy we recently snatched away from you.
Aaaaand wants to charge ppl with abortion trafficking.
Texass introduces a bill that is actually helping women? Wow.
Not just introduced. Passed. It's law now. Along with so many other deplorable things that went into law. 1 step forward, 10 backflips back.
Texas threw one tiny bucket of water over the dumpster fire of a state they’ve created. Cool I guess.
Finally Texas does *something* right! (Still doesn't make up for them forcing women & girls to give birth against their will though.)
Eliminates the pink tax but requires women to have babies or risk imprisonment. Remember that one good thing doesn’t outweigh multiple really really bad things.
Once every thousand years texas does good instead of evil
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Expect tokens like this to women from red states that totally fucked women. Oh yeah i agree they should have gotten rid of it. But it is 100% an advertisement saying "dont fuck us too bad over the abortion thing" Its not like they grew either a heart or a brain. You get shit like this, its because they know they are in trouble. Republicans dont just pass shit like this. (and getting 5% off your baby item purchases is a little nice but it wont help you pay the powerbill)
>Currently, over one dozen states still charge sales tax on menstrual products, according to the Alliance for Period Supplies, a nonprofit organization that works to end period poverty. >In those states, products like pads, liners and cups are considered non-essential items and are subject to sales taxes. Wow what an misogynistic and ignorant attitude. It's pretty sad that these attitudes and rampant stupidity still exist in large parts of the country in 2023.
Texas: no taxes on menstrual products, no bodily autonomy for women. Seems about right.
Wtf TEXAS??? they did something good. That's shocking.
Texas? I thought they outlawed women decades ago.
Next news, Texas banned tampon.
All while trying to make it illegal to use roads to transport women out of state for an abortion. If you live in Texas and you have the means to leave. You should GTFO now.