RI Lawmaker Calls For Free Period Products In Public Schools

PROVIDENCE, RI — A Rhode Island lawmaker is calling for all public school students to have access to menstural hygiene products. East Providence Senator Valarie Lawson introduced a bill that would require schools to provide the products, free of cost, in all gender-neutral and women's restrooms.

"We all know how necessary feminine hygiene products are, but what many people do not realize, and I see this as a long time educator, is that a lack of access to these products can cause students to miss crucial school days," Lawson said. "These products are a daily necessity to so many students and just as schools provide toilet paper for the bathrooms, these products should also be readily accessible for our students in need."

Under the bill, all public schools serving students in sixth through 12th grade would be required to have period products available in women's and gender-neutral bathrooms, starting in fall 2021. The bill has been sent to the Senate Education Committee.

Access to period products has been a hot-button issue in Rhode Island in recent months. Nearly one year ago to the day, Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza announced that the products would be available to students at the district's middle and high schools.

"No student should have to limit their education or miss school activities because they are menstruating," Elorza said at the time. "Periods are a part of life ... Let's work to ensure that all students in our school system are empowered, fully engaged, and focused on achieving in the classroom by meeting their basic needs."

The state took another step forward when it comes to feminine hygiene last year, eliminating the state's "tampon tax," or sales tax on feminine hygiene products, in the most recent budget.

"Exempting menstrual products is relief from both a financial burden and an injustice for women. This tax makes an expensive necessity even more unaffordable for many women, and it adds up over the course of a lifetime to a significant amount – for which there is no equivalent for men," said Rep. Edith Ajello, who co-sponsored a bill for the same purpose. "It amounts to a tax on being a woman, and I'm so glad that Rhode Island is joining the growing ranks of states that recognize that they should not be imposing a tax on a woman every time she needs to buy menstrual products."