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ISSA’s August Period Project Update – Impact Report

Welcome to ISSA’s August Period Project Update. This communication from ISSA will keep you up to date on the association’s efforts to end period poverty through advocacy and education. We encourage you sign up for this monthly update.

Features

ISSA Campaign Positively Impacts Period Poverty in 2023
“ISSA has taken our message of period positivity to facilities, state capitols, and even the White House. The association is proud to look back at our successes over the last year as we build on that momentum going into 2024 and beyond. We are working to advocate for a world where period-friendly bathrooms are the rule rather than the exception,” said ISSA Director of Government Affairs John Nothdurft.

Free Webinar: Implementing and Maintaining Period Friendly Bathrooms
Join us ISSA on October 5 for a free webinar discussing what period poverty is and best practices for creating and advocating for period friendly bathrooms. This webinar’s panelist will be Theresa Roche, Sales Director at HOSPECO Brands Group and Krista Plewes, Head of Marketing at Citron Hygiene. Thanks to HOSPECO Brands Group and Citron Hygiene for being the sponsors of the webinar.

Legislative Updates

ISSA State Legislative Activity Tracker
ISSA is tracking legislation regarding increased access in away-from-home facilities in all 50 states. Feel free to bookmark this link as it should update as we continue to track. Let us know if we are missing any. Learn more

Illinois has been moving legislation (HB 3093) to require all new and existing public buildings to provide free menstrual products in female and non-gendered bathrooms.

The Louisiana house passed LA HB 117 78-18. The bill would have required each public-school governing authority to make menstrual products available in easily accessible locations at no cost. The bill started working its way through Senate committees, but the legislative session ended before it could get to the floor.

Maine House of Representatives passed LD 348, an act to make menstrual products available in certain schools.

Minnesota became the 17^th state to require menstrual care products in schools. The law requires public and charter schools to provide students access to free menstrual products in student restrooms for grades 4-12 as well as higher education institutions. This will become effective January 1, 2024.

Missouri – In 2022 the state allocated funds to create a grant program to put period products in schools. The expenditure time frame for that program ended in June 2023. Hopefully the state will see the success of this program and allocate more funding next year in the state budget.

Free period products are now required in New Hampshire prisons and jails. In early August, Gov. Chris Sununu (R) signed House Bill 421, ensuring that period products are now free to anyone with a monthly cycle in state prisons and county jails.

The New Jersey Assembly and Senate moved A1349 and SB1221, which would require and fund menstrual products in grade 6-12 school bathrooms. There have been many iterations of this legislation dating back to 2019. The bill was signed into law by Governor Phil Murphy (D) on August 23, 2023.

Effective October 13, Ohio will require schools with grades 6-12 to provide menstrual care products. The state budget also allocated $2 million for the purchase of dispensers and $3 million for the purchase of period products for Ohio schools. Dispenser funding requests by schools are due September 15. Here is the guidance document.

Wisconsin’s Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard is pushing to scrap the state’s “pink tax”. According to the Center Square, “proponents say eliminating the tax on tampons and pads would save women in Wisconsin a collective $2.7 million per-year.”

News

• Essity Publishes Health and Hygiene Report
• “It’s a dignity issue”: Inside the movement tackling period poverty in the U.S.
• Global Menstrual Cup Market to Reach US$ 1.2 billion by 2031
• ‘Forever chemicals’ found in period underwear, tampon wrappers
• FDA approves new ‘spiral’ tampon shape
• No One Studied Menstrual Product Absorbency Realistically until Now

Featured Organization

The Idaho Period Positivity Coalition brings together the power of Days for Girls SW Boise and the Idaho Period Project, both of which strive to make period products more accessible to girls throughout the state. This year the coalition helped get legislation introduced in the Idaho legislature to require and fund period products in schools. The legislation passed the House Education Committee and failed on the house floor by only one vote.

The coalition hopes to continue to bring more awareness to this important issue and to get legislation across the finish line in 2024. Take a moment to sign up for updates from the coalition at their website.

Please contact us with any ISSA government affairs questions and/or comments that you may have. And thank you for supporting our advocacy efforts. You can find out more about ISSA’s End Period Poverty campaign and contribute here.