I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1882 

To increase the availability and affordability of menstrual hygiene products 

for individuals with limited access, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2019 

Ms. MENG (for herself, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Ms. 

JUDY CHU of California, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. 

COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. 

JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. LEE of 

California, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms. LOFGREN, Mrs. CAROLYN

B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, 

Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. MOORE, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, 

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. OMAR, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. 

RASKIN, Mr. ROUDA, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. 

TITUS, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. TONKO, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. WASSERMAN

SCHULTZ, and Ms. WEXTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the 

Committees on the Judiciary, Financial Services, Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period 

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To increase the availability and affordability of menstrual 

hygiene products for individuals with limited access, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Menstrual Equity For 

3 All Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS FOR STUDENTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4108(5)(C) of the Ele6 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

7 7118(5)(C)) is amended— 

8 (1) in clause (vi), by striking ‘‘or’’ after the 

9 semicolon; 

10 (2) in clause (vii), by inserting ‘‘or’’ after the 

11 semicolon; and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(viii) provide free menstrual hygiene 

14 products to students who use menstrual 

15 hygiene products;’’. 

16 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 4102 of the Elementary 

17 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7112) 

18 is amended— 

19 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (6) through 

20 (8) as paragraphs (7) through (9), respectively; and 

21 (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(6) MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘menstrual 

25 hygiene products’ means sanitary napkins and 


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1 tampons. All items must conform to applicable 

2 industry standards. 

3 ‘‘(B) RULEMAKING.—By not later than 1 

4 year after the date of enactment of the Men5 strual Equity For All Act of 2019, the Sec6 retary, in consultation with the Secretary of 

7 Health and Human Services, shall promulgate 

8 rules with respect to this paragraph.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS FOR INCARCER10 ATED INDIVIDUALS AND DETAINEES. 

11 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR STATES.—Beginning on the 

12 date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of 

13 this Act, and annually thereafter, the chief executive offi14 cer of each State that receives a grant under subpart 1 

15 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

16 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.) (com17 monly referred to as the ‘‘Edward Byrne Memorial Justice 

18 Assistance Grant Program’’) shall submit to the Attorney 

19 General a certification, in such form and containing such 

20 information as the Attorney General may require, that all 

21 incarcerated individuals and detainees in that State have 

22 access to menstrual hygiene products on demand and at 

23 no cost to the incarcerated individuals and detainees, and 

24 that no visitor is prohibited from visiting an incarcerated 


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1 individual due to the visitor’s use of menstrual hygiene 

2 products. 

3 (b) REDUCTION IN GRANT FUNDING.—In the case 

4 of a State whose chief executive officer fails to submit a 

5 certification required under subsection (a) in a fiscal year, 

6 the Attorney General shall reduce the amount that the 

7 State would have otherwise received under section 505 of 

8 title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 

9 of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3755) by 20 percent for the following 

10 fiscal year. 

11 (c) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated to a 

12 State under section 505 of title I of the Omnibus Crime 

13 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3755) 

14 for a fiscal year pursuant to subsection (b) shall be reallo15 cated under such section to States that submit such cer16 tifications. 

17 (d) MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS.—For the pur18 poses of subsection (a), the term ‘‘menstrual hygiene prod19 ucts’’ means sanitary napkins and tampons. All items 

20 must conform to applicable industry standards. 

21 (e) AVAILABILITY FOR FEDERAL PRISONERS.—The 

22 Attorney General shall make rules requiring, and the Di23 rector of the Bureau of Prisons shall take such actions 

24 as may be necessary to ensure, the distribution and acces25 sibility without charge of menstrual hygiene products to 


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1 prisoners in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, includ2 ing any prisoner in a Federal penal or correctional institu3 tion, any Federal prisoner in a State penal or correctional 

4 institution, and any Federal prisoner in a facility adminis5 tered by a private detention entity, to ensure that each 

6 prisoner who requires these products may receive them in 

7 sufficient quantity. 

8 (f) AVAILABILITY FOR DETAINEES.—The Secretary 

9 of Homeland Security shall take such actions as may be 

10 necessary to ensure that menstrual hygiene products are 

11 distributed and made accessible to each alien detained by 

12 the Secretary of Homeland Security, including any alien 

13 in a facility administered by a private detention entity, at 

14 no expense to the alien. 

15 SEC. 4. MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS AVAILABILITY 

16 FOR HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS UNDER EMER17 GENCY FOOD AND SHELTER GRANT PRO18 GRAM. 

19 Subsection (a) of section 316 of the McKinney-Vento 

20 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11346(a)) is amend21 ed— 

22 (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

23 end; 

24 (2) in paragraph (6), by striking the period at 

25 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

2 paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(7) guidelines that ensure that amounts pro4 vided under the program to private nonprofit organi5 zations and local governments may be used to pro6 vide sanitary napkins and tampons. All items must 

7 conform to applicable industry standards.’’. 

8 SEC. 5. MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS REIMBURSE9 MENT FROM HEALTH FLEXIBLE SPENDING 

10 ARRANGEMENTS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 106 of the Internal Rev12 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(h) MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts paid or incurred 

16 for menstrual hygiene products shall be treated as a 

17 qualified medical expense eligible for reimbursement 

18 from a health flexible spending arrangement. 

19 ‘‘(2) MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS DE20 FINED.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the term 

21 ‘menstrual hygiene products’ means sanitary nap22 kins, tampons, liners, cups, and similar items used 

23 by individuals with respect to menstruation. All 

24 items must conform to applicable industry stand25 ards.’’. 


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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

2 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

3 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

4 SEC. 6. MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS COVERED BY 

5 MEDICAID. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title XIX of the Social Security 

7 Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) is amended— 

8 (1) in section 1902(a)(10)(A), by striking ‘‘and 

9 (29)’’ and inserting ‘‘, (29), and (30)’’; and 

10 (2) in section 1905— 

11 (A) in subsection (a)— 

12 (i) in paragraph (29), by striking 

13 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

14 (ii) by redesignating paragraph (30) 

15 as paragraph (31); and 

16 (iii) by inserting after paragraph (29) 

17 the following new paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(30) menstrual hygiene products (as defined in 

19 subsection (ff)); and’’; and 

20 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

21 subsection: 

22 ‘‘(ff) MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS.—For pur23 poses of subsection (a)(30), The term ‘menstrual hygiene 

24 products’ means sanitary napkins, tampons, liners, cups, 


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1 and similar items used by individuals with respect to men2 struation and that conform to industry standards.’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

5 the amendments made by this section shall apply 

6 with respect to medical assistance furnished during 

7 or after the first calendar quarter beginning on or 

8 after the date that is 1 year after the date of the 

9 enactment of this Act. 

10 (2) EXCEPTION FOR STATE LEGISLATION.—In 

11 the case of a State plan under title XIX of the So12 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) that the 

13 Secretary of Health and Human Services determines 

14 requires State legislation in order for the respective 

15 plan to meet any requirement imposed by amend16 ments made by this section, the respective plan shall 

17 not be regarded as failing to comply with the re18 quirements of such title solely on the basis of its 

19 failure to meet such an additional requirement be20 fore the first day of the first calendar quarter begin21 ning after the close of the first regular session of the 

22 State legislature that begins after the date of the en23 actment of this Act. For purposes of the previous 

24 sentence, in the case of a State that has a 2-year 

25 legislative session, each year of the session shall be 


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1 considered to be a separate regular session of the 

2 State legislature. 

3 SEC. 7. MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS FOR EMPLOYEES. 

4 Section 6 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 

5 of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 655) is amended by adding at the end 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘(g) The Secretary shall by rule promulgate a re8 quirement that each employer with not less than 100 em9 ployees provide menstrual hygiene products free of charge 

10 for employees of the employer. For purposes of the pre11 ceding sentence, ‘menstrual hygiene products’ means sani12 tary napkins and tampons. All items must conform to ap13 plicable industry standards.’’. 

14 SEC. 8. MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS IN FEDERAL 

15 BUILDINGS. 

16 (a) REQUIREMENT.—The head of each agency shall 

17 ensure that menstrual hygiene products are stocked in, 

18 and available free of charge in, each covered restroom in 

19 each covered public building under the jurisdiction of such 

20 agency. 

21 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi22 nitions apply: 

23 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 

24 meaning given such term in section 551 of title 5, 

25 United States Code. 


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1 (2) COVERED PUBLIC BUILDING.—The term 

2 ‘‘covered public building’’ means a public building 

3 (as defined in section 3301 of title 40, United States 

4 Code) that is open to the public and contains a rest5 room, and includes a building listed in section 6301 

6 or 5101 of such title. 

7 (3) COVERED RESTROOM.—The term ‘‘covered 

8 restroom’’ means each restroom in a covered public 

9 building except for a restroom designated solely for 

10 use by men. 

11 (4) MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS.—The 

12 term ‘‘menstrual hygiene products’’ means sanitary 

13 napkins and tampons. All items must conform to ap14 plicable industry standards. 

Æ 


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