Georgia STOMP believes that a general lack of understanding about menstrual needs has led to inequity not just in our tax base, but in institutions and public spaces across the state.
Who is Georgia STOMP?
We are a grassroots volunteer coalition of organizations formed to address the issues of menstrual equity and period poverty in Georgia. First and foremost: we are here to eliminate the 4% state sales tax Georgians are charged on the medically necessary, unavoidable items they need to manage their periods with dignity.
It didn’t take long to realize that the road to menstrual equity requires more than eliminating a single tax. Today, we address the numerous barriers to menstrual product access. Students in our state schools, those experiencing situational poverty following a natural disaster, and individuals detained in the wide variety of detention facilities in our state, have encountered these difficulties.
Our Mission
Georgia STOMP is a nonprofit coalition advocating to expand menstrual equity and eliminate period poverty in Georgia.
What We Do
Georgia STOMP’s five pillars:
Address period poverty and its effects on education in our state’s public schools
Work with state, local and county agencies to ensure menstrual products are available in adequate supply for those incarcerated
Vigorously pursue the elimination of state sales tax on menstrual products, holding that it is a minimum that can be done to address menstrual equity in Georgia
Work to address the availability of period products for vulnerable populations
Advance an understanding of menstrual equity and why it is needed in Georgia alongside efforts to eliminate period poverty
Our History
In early 2017, a member of Georgia Women (And Those Who Stand With Us) brought forth the idea of eliminating the state sales tax on menstrual products in Georgia. After reviewing her research, Georgia Women’s Steering Committee adopted sales tax elimination as a mission. Successful meetings with Rep. Allen Peake (R) – Macon and Rep. Debbie Buckner (D) – Junction City led to the introduction of HB731, a bill to eliminate state sales tax on menstrual products in Georgia.
Although the bill’s original signers were proportionally bipartisan, HB731 never progressed out of committee. 2018 was nevertheless a successful year in that as we worked to get the bill passed, we forged a network that soon became Georgia STOMP.”
Serendipitously, in October of 2018, the Alliance for Period Supplies scheduled the first national conference on Period Leadership in Atlanta. Members of Georgia STOMP attended the conference and it became a turning point for the coalition. With leaders from all over the country present, coalition attendees were challenged to look beyond the tax elimination issue to numerous areas of menstrual inequity.
Today, the growing statewide coalition educates and advocates for provision of products in schools, state-run incarceration facilities and following natural disasters.
Coalition Updates
Op Ed: The tampon tax is ready to be eliminated in Georgia
This op-ed was co-authored by Georgia STOMP board member Rachel Perlis and UGA Law student Larken Cardin. Rachel G. Perlis is a UGA Law alumna and Atlanta attorney whose practice has included litigation, state law and policy, and most recently estate planning. She serves as a Board Member and Legislative Chair for Georgia STOMP, a […]
2023 Looking Back – Looking Forward
Happy New Year! As I reflect on 2023, I am excited about the development and growth that Georgia STOMP has undergone. The team we have assembled is committed to this work. We are diverse in perspective and in the gifts we bring to the mission. For those who have been a part of this effort […]
Period Product Dispensers Soon Available At Georgia Public Schools!
School doors have opened across the state which is still a shocker to some of us who never started before Labor Day! Returning to the classroom means, for many students, returning to a season of fear, facing questions like: when will my period start, will I have the products I need to attend class or […]