Sponsors (33)
Official title: To provide targeted funding for States and other eligible entities through the Social Services Block Grant program to increase the availability of menstrual products for individuals with limited access to such products.
Introduced February 4, 2025 by Sean Casten · Last progress February 4, 2025
The bill directs targeted federal SSBG funds to make menstrual products free and more accessible for low-income people—improving basic health equity and program reach—while increasing federal spending, redirecting state SSBG obligations, and adding administrative burdens for states and nonprofits.
Low-income menstruating individuals (primarily women and girls) will receive free menstrual products and improved access through a targeted $200M/year SSBG funding stream (FY2026–FY2029), reducing unmet basic-period needs.
States can integrate the new funds with existing programs (TANF, Medicaid, CHIP, WIC, home visiting) to reach eligible families using established delivery channels, improving program reach and administrative efficiency.
Federal technical assistance and evaluation funding (up to 2% plus $2M in FY2026) will build state and nonprofit capacity and enable measurement of program effectiveness.
All taxpayers fund an added federal expense of roughly $200M/year (FY2026–FY2029) plus administrative costs for implementation and oversight.
States must obligate $200M/year from SSBG (FY2025–FY2028), which may reduce state flexibility and crowd out other SSBG-funded social service priorities.
Administrative limits (e.g., 9% cap) and new reporting and compliance requirements increase overhead and staffing burdens for states and nonprofit providers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Sets SSBG at $1.9B for FY2025–2028 and creates a $200M/year Treasury-funded stream (FY2026–2029) to help states provide menstrual products to low-income menstruating individuals.
Provides new, targeted funding to help states buy and distribute menstrual products to low-income menstruating people through the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) program. It sets SSBG allotments at $1.9 billion for FY2025–2028 and creates a separate $200 million per year Treasury-funded stream for FY2026–2029 specifically to support state obligations for menstrual products and related outreach and access activities. Requires states to oblige specified amounts each year, allows the Department to reserve small shares for technical assistance and a one-time evaluation, and limits recipients of reserved technical-assistance grants to qualified nonprofits. Funds must supplement, not supplant, existing federal, state, local, or philanthropic funding and may be used to purchase and distribute products and to integrate distribution with other low-income assistance programs.