080621 Feminine Hygiene
080621 FEMININE HYGIENE
IRN
Kevin Bessler
New laws provides feminine hygiene products in Illinois
Version 1
There are now new laws to make feminine hygiene products more accessible in Illinois. One bill requires all public universities and community colleges to provide free feminine hygiene products in campus bathrooms. Representative Katie Stuart sponsored the bill.
Stuart :10 Q…biology
During floor debate, Senator Jil Tracy noted that SIU tried a similar program but stopped because of theft.
Tracy :09 Q…take it
College and university board of trustees will decide how much funding is needed to meet the new requirement. Another piece of legislation provides hygiene products to homeless shelters free of charge if their budget allows.
Version 2
Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a group of bills Thursday aimed at removing financial barriers to feminine hygiene products for women and girls. One bill requires all homeless shelters to provide products free of charge if their budget allows. Senator Christopher Belt was the bill’s sponsor.
Belt :11 Q…in Illinois
Another bill will provide feminine hygiene products in all bathrooms on college campuses. During floor debate, Senator Karina Villa was asked about a similar program at Southern Illinois University that was discontinued because of theft.
Villa :07 Q…stealing
The third piece of legislation allows recipients of SNAP and WIC to use those programs to buy diapers and feminine hygiene products.
Brief
There are now new laws to make feminine hygiene products more accessible in Illinois.
One bill (HB 641) requires all public universities and community colleges to provide free feminine hygiene products in campus bathrooms.
“Approximately half our population experiences menstruation throughout a significant portion of their lifetimes,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville. “This is a normal function of our biology and needs to be seen and treated as such.
During floor debate of the bill, Sen. Jil Tracy, R-Quincy, noted that Southern Illinois University tried a similar program but stopped because of problems with theft.
“How much, who pays and whose expense?” said Tracy. “We also have to stop creating a culture that everything is free, so let’s just take it.”
College and university board of trustees will decide how much funding is needed to meet the new requirement.
Also signed into law was the Feminine Hygiene Products for the Homeless Act, which requires all homeless shelters granting temporary housing assistance to women and youth to provide products such as sanitary napkins and tampons free of charge if their budget allows.
“Not providing such an essential need found within feminine hygiene products to some of our most vulnerable citizens is shameful and will no longer happen in Illinois,” said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Christopher Belt, D-Swansea.
The bill does not include any type of enforcement or penalties to shelters that do not provide the products because of the possibility the funds may not be in the facility’s general budget.
The third bill signed into law was HB 155, which requires the Illinois Department of Human Services to apply for a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service. The waiver would allow recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to use those programs for diapers and menstrual hygiene products.
“Across the country, one in four women regularly struggle to purchase menstrual products due to lack of income,” said Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora. “Today, Illinois is taking steps too help low-income women in out state overcome that challenge.”
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