California Bill Would Ban Gender-Based Price Discrimination
By Joyce E. Cutler
- Women pay an estimated $2,381 a year more for like items
- Assembly approves measure and sends it to state Senate
Bloomberg Government subscribers get the stories like this first. Act now and gain unlimited access to everything you need to know. Learn more.
Charging more for pink razors or other items marketed to women that are substantially like those targeted to men would become illegal under a bill the California Assembly unanimously passed Thursday.
A typical California woman pays about $2,381 a year more in a so-called “pink tax” for the same goods and services as a man, author Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D) said ahead of the floor vote on the bill (A.B. 1287). The figure is based on a 2020 California Senate Judiciary Committee report on a similar bill that didn’t pass.
“This arbitrarily penalizes women up to $47 billion a year” in California, Bauer-Kahan said. “That is the tax that we pay for being a woman. And it is time we get rid of it.”
The bill would give the state attorney general the authority to seek an injunction to end the practice. A court, in addition to granting the injunction, could impose a $250 penalty for a first violation and a $500 penalty for each subsequent violation.
The measure was passed on a vote of 59 to 0 and now heads to the California Senate. “We’ve received bipartisan support on the bill so far, so we feel very hopeful for our chances in the Senate,” Bauer-Kahan’s Chief of Staff Jordan Curley said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Joyce E. Cutler in San Francisco at jcutler@bloomberglaw.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tina May at tmay@bloomberglaw.com
Stay informed with more news like this – from the largest team of reporters on Capitol Hill – subscribe to Bloomberg Government today. Learn more.