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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2019 - 2020
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | October 21, 2019 05:12 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Sara Innamorato |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Free Menstrual Hygiene Products at PA Public Colleges and Universities |
| We all deserve dignity. When you enter a public restroom on a college or university campus, you’re provided hand soap and towels to support hand hygiene. It’s time to start treating menstruation as a basic hygiene need for our students. The right to manage your period should not be treated as a privilege. A quarter of Pennsylvanians struggle to afford their period products. Our social safety net programs like SNAP or WIC don’t cover these purchases, and this leaves our neighbors struggling on a monthly basis to meet their needs. Our low-income students are balancing an especially precarious budget as they strain to afford tuition, textbooks, and living costs. As we see a rise of food pantries and homelessness on our campuses, it’s clear that our students are struggling. 1 in 5 students have missed school or class due to a lack of period products. This is unconscionable. We can provide and place free pads and tampons in all bathrooms of public college or university buildings. Our students—our children, our peers, our neighbors—deserve better. |
Introduced as HB2824