House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014 Regular Session

Posted:	January 18, 2013 03:46 PM
From:	Representative Seth M. Grove
To:	All House members
Subject:	Support Breast Feeding and Infant Nutrition

In the near future I will introduce legislation to exempt breast pumps and associated accessories from the Sales and Use Tax in order to promote and increase breastfeeding. Recently, the IRS concluded breast pumps and supplies to assist lactation are medical expenses. A recent study by Harvard Medical School showed that if 90 percent of mothers followed the standard medical advice of feeding infants only breast milk for the first six months, the United States could save $13 billion a year in health care costs and prevent the premature deaths of 900 infants each year from respiratory illness and other infections. Moreover, breastfeeding is also beneficial to nursing mothers by helping them avoid Type 2 diabetes, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, and postpartum depression. For working mothers, the breast pump is the only way to continue to provide nutritious breast milk to an infant after returning to work. The pumps also are used to assist mothers who may have anatomical issues that make breastfeeding difficult or to increase milk production.
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Introduced as HB778