Provides an additional monthly public assistance allowance of $10 for menstrual products, including but not limited to, tampons, sanitary napkins, cups and panty liners.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5502
SPONSOR: Rosenthal L TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the social services law, in relation to providing an
additional monthly allowance for menstrual products under public assist-
ance
PURPOSE:
This legislation would increase access to menstrual products for people
on public assistance.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one amends subdivision 5 of section 131-a of the social services
law by adding a new paragraph
Section two sets forth the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
People spend about 40 years of their life menstruating, using more than
16 thousand tampons or pads over the course of their lifetime. Menstru-
al products such as tampons, pads, cups and panty liners are essential
items that enable people to go about their daily lives without inter-
ruption while they are menstruating. Without easy access to menstrual
products, people would be subject to isolation, forced to miss days of
work and school and be subject to shame as a result of a normal bodily
function.
Period poverty is real. In a 2017-2018 Saint Louis University study
researchers found that two out of three low-income women surveyed could
not afford menstrual products at some point during the previous year and
21% of women reported that they could not afford menstrual supplies on a
monthly basis. SNAP is a lifeline for low-income individuals, but it
currently cannot be used to cover the cost of menstrual products. As a
result, some people sell their SNAP benefits in exchange for cash so
that they can afford to buy pads and tampons. Others are forced to use
unsanitary alternatives to menstrual products, such as rags, toilet
paper and reusable pads, which increases skin irritation, itching and
infections, such as urinary tract infections.
Allowing people on public assistance to access an additional monthly
subsidy for the purchase menstrual products will help address period
poverty and result in better mental and physical health outcomes.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Undetermined.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-22: A.7777 - Reported to Ways and Means
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5502
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 15, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Social Services
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to providing an
additional monthly allowance for menstrual products under public
assistance
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 5 of section 131-a of the social services law
2 is amended by adding a new paragraph (f) to read as follows:
3 (f) an additional ten dollars per month for the purchase of menstrual
4 products, including but not limited to, tampons, sanitary napkins, cups
5 and panty liners.
6 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05570-01-3
