>The following bill will be heard in the Maryland House of Reps. on 3/5/01.
>HB548 says, "exempting from the sales and use tax the sale of tangible
>personal property that is manufactured for the purpose of initiating,
>supporting, or sustaining breastfeeding."  Anyone have any thoughts on why
>it would be important to make breastfeeding supplies tax-free?

One of the tools legislators have to encourage or discourage
certain behaviors that they can't mandate directly is to
reduce or increase  taxed charged on them. Cigarette tax is
supposed to have the effect of reducing smoking and, according
to research, it works, at least to some extent.
There has been federal legislation proposed offering tax
advantages to companies that offer lactation programs for
their employees. This legislation seems to be a variation
on that aimed at benefiting (i.e. encouraging) individuals to
breastfeed.
  Naomi Bar-Yam

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