User:AnesaM/Pink tax

Article Draft
US Legislation

AB 1287 Price discrimination: gender.

AB 1287 is a bill introduced by Bauer-Kahan and Cristina Garcia that prevents businesses from charging different prices for similar products based on the gender of the customers. The bill was modified in August 2022 and includes several changes.

The revised bill concludes that two products are similar if they share the same brand or are owned by the same individual. The Attorney General can seek court orders to prohibit violations. Civil fines can be imposed for violations, with a maximum fine of $10,000 for the first violation and $1,000 for following violations, up to a total of $100,000. Added civil sentences can be imposed if the defendant continues to violate the law.

The bill was submitted in response to a 2018 report by the United States Government Accountability that found gender-based price discrimination in personal care products. The bill seeks to close a hole in the Gender Tax Repeal Act of 1995, which prohibited gender-based pricing for services but unintentionally created an assumption that the legislature did not intend to ban gender discrimination for products.

The author of the bill discusses that gendered pricing or the "Pink Tax" is a systemic devaluation of women's economic well-being, and eliminating the Pink Tax will hold companies accountable and support women's economic health. The California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls supports the bill, citing the ongoing gender gap and the fact that women continue to pay more for common items marketed to them.

Price discrimination: gender, A.B. 1287, Bauer-Kahan. (Cal. 2022) https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB1287


 * Gender Assembly Bill Number 1287 is a California state bill that seeks to prohibit gender-based price discrimination in the sale of goods and services.