A bill that aimed to eliminate Colorado’s version of the so-called tampon tax passed out of a Democratic-controlled state House committee Monday – but the bill didn’t draw the kind of support that its sponsor had hoped for and that might bolster its chances in the Republican-controlled state Senate.

The bill, HB 1127, made it through the House finance committee on a soft 7-6 party line vote.

Tampons, pads and other menstrual products are classified by the FDA as “medical devices,” a product category many believe should exempt them from sales tax. Yet Colorado women pay state taxes for them to the tune of roughly $2.4 million a year, according to the bill’s fiscal note.

“We shouldn’t tax a woman for being a woman,” said Rep. Susan Lontine, a Denver Democrat. “There’s no real equivalent for men.”

Efforts to remove sales taxes on tampons are catching on around the country, even though lawmakers and officials overseeing strapped state budgets seem loath to lose the reliable income the taxes provide.

California Gov. Jerry Brown last year vetoed a proposed tampon tax repeal. The move drew the ire of women across the Golden State, but the revenue tied to state and local tampon taxes there was reportedly more than $20 million.

Lontine said that, as she talked to committee members about the bill, it became clear to her that Republican party opposition was building against it, despite the fact that the bill is co-sponsored by Thornton Republican Sen. Beth Martinez Humenik.

“I mean, I thought Republicans would be open to removing a tax, especially one that seemed to me to be biased against one whole gender,” Lontine said.

But Lontine said she thought committee member Rep. Polly Lawrence, a Roxborough Park Republican, made valid points Monday in arguing against the bill.

Lawrence said that there were other similarly necessary medical products that were also taxed – adult diapers for example. If lawmakers agree that one such tax should go, all of them should probably have to go.

“She’s right, I think,” said Lontine, “but I also think that we can’t do everything in this building and that this would have been a good start.”

Lontine said that some Democrats surprised her by also lamenting the cost tied to the bill.

“I think a lot of people just see it as a small amount of money that individual women pay – but it adds up,” said Lontine. “Women already pay more than men do for all kinds of products. Look at the cost of women’s shaving cream and razors compared to men’s. We pay more for less of both.”

This is the first time a tampon tax repeal bill has been heard in Colorado.

Lontine’s bill now heads to the House appropriations committee.

– john@coloradostatesman.com