(C) Ohio Capital Journal
This unaltered story was originally published by Ohio Capital Journal
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To combat ‘rash’ inflation, Ohio considers eliminating diaper tax [1]

['Morgan Trau', 'More From Author', '- June']

Date: 2022-06-22 00:00:00

The following article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.

A bipartisan bill in the Ohio House would eliminate the sales tax for child and adult diapers, attempting to combat inflation to help struggling families save money.

One in three families struggle with having enough diapers for their kids, according to the Diaper Bank of Greater Cleveland, and some resource groups say the struggle’s only gotten worse because of inflation.

People buying diapers recently have felt the pinch. A box of 72 can set a shopper back about $43, but that is before the sales tax. That could be another $3.50.

“In regards to diapers and wipes and formula, you can’t even imagine how fast you go through,” Karen Potter, a Northeast Ohio grandmother, said. “You can’t keep track, it goes that fast.”

Potter is a grandmother of two boys under the age of four. The child care products get used quickly and the rate they fly off the shelves is also causing anxiety for families, she added.

“Things for children under five were expensive to begin with,” she said. “Now you add in all these shortages, and you add in the inflation and you add in low supply.”

Lake County Treasurer Michael Zuren hosts frequent diaper drives hoping to provide some relief but said it’s time for our lawmakers to step up.

“It’s not happening on the federal level, so we need to do it in the state of Ohio,” Zuren said. “Reducing the taxes is a great idea.”

State Rep. Shayla Davis, a Democrat from Garfield Heights, agreed, cosponsoring House Bill 695, a bipartisan bill that would eliminate the sales tax for child and adult diapers.

“If families are unable to do those essential things, what then happens to their child?” the Democrat asked. “We know we’re in this kind of post-COVID situation where people are still struggling with a lot of things and they don’t need this added on.”

Davis and other lawmakers said they hope those extra dollars saved each week help alleviate the stress for thousands of working families struggling to cover the bills.

Programs like Women, Infants, and Children do not cover the costs of diapers, which Davis said can hurt lower-income and single-parent families.

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[1] Url: https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2022/06/22/to-combat-rash-inflation-ohio-considers-eliminating-diaper-tax/

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