Menstrual products — pads, tampons, cups, discs, and menstrual underwear — would be made free and broadly available across a long list of federal settings and programs under this bill. Public K-12 schools could use existing federal Title IV-A grants to stock menstrual products for students, and at least four colleges (half of them community colleges) could compete for $5 million in grants to do the same. States would have to certify each year that everyone in their jails, prisons, and detention centers can get menstrual products free on demand; those that don't would lose 20 percent of their Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant funding, and the federal Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Homeland Security would have to provide products to federal prisoners and immigration detainees. Medicaid would cover menstrual products as a standard benefit, and OSHA would have to issue a rule requiring employers with 100 or more employees to supply them to workers free of charge. Federal public buildings would have to stock them in every public restroom. The bill would also carve out $200 million a year (fiscal 2026–2029) inside the Social Services Block Grant specifically for menstrual-product distribution by states and nonprofits, authorize $10 million a year in TANF grants for low-income families, expand homeless-shelter grant uses, and prohibit states and localities from charging sales tax on menstrual products.
Congressional Summary
Menstrual Equity For All Act of 2025This bill expands access to menstrual products (e.g., tampons) in certain locations and for particular groups, such as in schools and for low-income individuals, through federal programs and requirements. It also prohibits state or local sales taxes for these products. The bill expands access to menstrual products through federal programs byrequiring Medicaid to cover such products,establishing grants within the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to provide benefits to ensure access to such products,authorizing the Emergency Food and Shelter Program to provide menstrual products to homeless individuals, andincreasing Social Services Block Grant funding to provide such products to low-income individuals.Also, the bill sets out requirements to make free menstrual products available in federal and state correctional facilities (including Department of Homeland Security detention facilities) and restrooms in federal buildings that are open to the public.Further, the bill (1) establishes grants to provide free menstrual products to students at institutions of higher education, and (2) permits elementary and secondary schools to use certain grant funds to provide menstrual products to students.In addition, the bill requires employers with at least 100 employees to provide free menstrual products for employees.Finally, the bill prohibits states and local governments from taxing retail sales of menstrual products.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-05-29
- Date Added
- 2026-04-17