Sponsors (75)
Introduced May 29, 2025 by Grace Meng · Last progress May 29, 2025
The bill greatly expands free and subsidized access to menstrual products across schools, colleges, workplaces, prisons, federal buildings, and health programs — reducing out-of-pocket costs and advancing equity — but requires new federal and state spending, creates administrative and procurement burdens, and will produce uneven coverage unless states and institutions fully implement and fund the programs.
Millions of people who menstruate — including low-income households, Medicaid enrollees, K–12 and college students, incarcerated people, workers at covered employers, and visitors to federal buildings — will gain free or subsidized access to menstrual products across multiple settings.
People who menstruate, especially low-income individuals and families, will face lower out-of-pocket costs because the bill funds product distribution programs and removes state/local sales taxes on menstrual products.
Students — in K–12 schools and prioritized colleges (community colleges and campuses with high Pell enrollment) — will have improved attendance, participation, and reduced unmet menstrual needs due to free product availability and outreach.
Taxpayers and state/local governments will face increased costs from new federal appropriations, grant programs, Medicaid benefit expansions, and requirements to stock free products, while sales-tax exemptions reduce state/local revenue.
Access will be uneven: eligibility limits (e.g., TANF-only grants), employer-size thresholds (≥100 employees), limited/competitive college grants, and state-by-state Medicaid implementation will leave many people without guaranteed coverage.
States, schools, employers, nonprofits, and federal agencies will incur administrative, reporting, and compliance burdens — requiring staff time, procurement changes, and systems updates that impose upfront costs and complexity.
Based on analysis of 22 sections of legislative text.
Requires and funds free access to menstrual products in schools, colleges, federal buildings, prisons, and some workplaces; adds products to Medicaid and bans state sales taxes on them.
Provides federal funding, new grants, and a set of requirements so menstrual products are widely available at no cost in schools, colleges, federal buildings, prisons/detention centers, and through certain assistance programs. It also prohibits state sales taxes on menstrual products, adds menstrual products to Medicaid-covered items, and directs Labor to require large employers to supply menstrual products. Creates multiple new grant streams and program changes (including funds for States, TANF administrators, higher-education institutions, and technical assistance), sets timelines for implementation and reporting, and attaches compliance conditions to existing grant programs (including a penalty on Justice Assistance Grants for noncompliant States).