Amended  IN  Assembly  April 18, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1203

Introduced by Assembly Member Members Bains and Cervantes

February 16, 2023

An act to add and repeal Section 6370.2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to taxation, to take effect immediately, tax levy.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1203, as amended, Bains. Sales and use taxes: exemptions: breast pumps and related supplies.
Existing state sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. The Sales and Use Tax Law provides various exemptions from those taxes.
This bill, on or after January April 1, 2024, and before January April 1, 2029, would exempt the gross receipts from the sale in this state of, and the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, breast pumps, breast pump collection and storage supplies, breast pump kits, and breast pads.
Existing law requires a bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements.
This bill would make findings detailing the goals of the above-described tax expenditure and performance indicators for determining whether the tax expenditure meets those goals.
The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing laws authorize districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which generally conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to the Sales and Use Tax Law are automatically incorporated into the local tax laws.
Existing law requires the state to reimburse counties and cities for revenue losses caused by the enactment of sales and use tax exemptions.
This bill would provide that, notwithstanding Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse any local agencies for sales and use tax revenues lost by them pursuant to this bill.
This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 6370.2 is added to the Revenue and Taxation Code, to read:

6370.2.
 (a) On and after January April 1, 2024, and before January April 1, 2029, there are exempted from the taxes imposed by this part the gross receipts from the sale in this state of, and the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, all of the following:
(1) Breast pumps.
(2) Breast pump collection and storage supplies.
(3) Breast pump kits.
(4) Breast pads.
(b) For purposes of this section, all of the following definitions shall apply:
(1) (A) “Breast pump” means an electrically or manually controlled pump device designed and marketed to be used to express milk from a human breast during lactation.
(B) “Breast pump” includes the electrically or manually controlled pump device and any battery, alternating current (AC) adapter, or other power supply unit packaged and sold with the pump device at the time of sale to power the pump device.
(2) (A) “Breast pump collection and storage supplies” means tangible personal property designed or marketed to be used in conjunction with a breast pump to collect milk expressed from a human breast and store collected milk until it is ready for consumption, including, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(i) Breast shields and breast shield connectors.
(ii) Breast pump tubes and tubing adapters.
(iii) Breast pump valves and membranes.
(iv) Backflow protectors and backflow protector adaptors.
(v) Bottle and bottle caps specific to the operation of the breast pump.
(vi) Breast milk storage bags.
(vii) Other items that may be useful to initiate, support, or sustain breastfeeding using a breast pump during lactation, that may be sold separately, but are generally sold as part of a breast pump kit.
(B) “Breast pump collection and storage supplies” does not include the following items if not sold as part of a breast pump kit prepackaged by the breast pump manufacturer or distributor:
(i) Bottles and bottle caps not specific to the operation of the breast pump.
(ii) Breast pump travel bags and other similar carrying accessories, including ice packs, labels, and other similar products.
(iii) Breast pump cleaning supplies.
(iv) Nursing bras, bra pads, breast shells, and other similar products.
(v) Creams, ointments, and other similar products that relieve breastfeeding-related symptoms or conditions of the breasts or nipples.
(3) “Breast pump kit” means a kit that contains a breast pump and one or more of the following items:
(A) Breast pump collection and storage supplies.
(B) Other tangible personal property that may be useful to initiate, support, or sustain breastfeeding using a breast pump during lactation, so long as the other tangible personal property sold with the breast pump kit at the time of the sale are less than 10 percent of the total sales price of the breast pump kit.

(c)It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to comply with the requirements of Section 41.

(c) For purposes of complying with Section 41, the Legislature finds and declares the following:
(1) The specific goals, purposes, and objectives of this act are:
(A) To promote public health by increasing the affordability of, and expanding access to, breast pumps and related supplies.
(B) To ease the financial burden placed on families who rely on breast pumps to feed their children.
(C) To create parity in taxation between formula and breast pump equipment.
(D) To incentivize optimal breastfeeding for the entirety of time recommended by experts.
(2) (A) To measure the goals set forth in paragraph (1), the Legislative Analyst’s Office shall review the effectiveness of the exemption and may request information for this purpose from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and any other relevant state government entity.
(B) On or before July 1, 2027, the Legislative Analyst’s Office shall submit a report, in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, of the review completed pursuant to subparagraph (A) to the Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation and to the Senate Governance and Finance Committee. The report shall include, but is not limited to, both of the following:
(i) A recommendation on whether the exemption should be modified, extended, or allowed to become inoperative.
(ii) An assessment on whether more targeted approaches to providing families in need with adequate access to breast pumps and related supplies are available.
(d) This section shall remain in effect only until January April 1, 2029, and as of that date is repealed.

SEC. 2.

 Notwithstanding Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, no appropriation is made by this act and the state shall not reimburse any local agency for any sales and use tax revenues lost by it under this act.

SEC. 3.

 This act provides for a tax levy within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect.