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. GRI-
JALVA, 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 re-
ferred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the 
Committees on the Judiciary, Financial Services, Ways and Means, En-
ergy and Commerce, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Menstrual Equity For 
All Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS FOR STUDENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4108(5)(C) of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
7118(5)(C)) is amended— 
(1) in clause (vi), by striking ‘‘or’’ after the 
semicolon; 
(2) in clause (vii), by inserting ‘‘or’’ after the 
semicolon; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(viii) provide free menstrual hygiene 
products to students who use menstrual 
hygiene products;’’. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 4102 of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7112) 
is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (6) through 
(8) as paragraphs (7) through (9), respectively; and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(6) MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘menstrual 
hygiene products’ means sanitary napkins and 
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tampons. All items must conform to applicable 
industry standards. 
‘‘(B) RULEMAKING.—By not later than 1 
year after the date of enactment of the Men-
strual Equity For All Act of 2019, the Sec-
retary, in consultation with the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services, shall promulgate 
rules with respect to this paragraph.’’. 
SEC. 3. MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS FOR INCARCER-
ATED INDIVIDUALS AND DETAINEES. 
(a) REQUIREMENT FOR STATES.—Beginning on the 
date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, and annually thereafter, the chief executive offi-
cer of each State that receives a grant under subpart 1 
of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.) (com-
monly referred to as the ‘‘Edward Byrne Memorial Justice 
Assistance Grant Program’’) shall submit to the Attorney 
General a certification, in such form and containing such 
information as the Attorney General may require, that all 
incarcerated individuals and detainees in that State have 
access to menstrual hygiene products on demand and at 
no cost to the incarcerated individuals and detainees, and 
that no visitor is prohibited from visiting an incarcerated 
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individual due to the visitor’s use of menstrual hygiene 
products. 
(b) REDUCTION IN GRANT FUNDING.—In the case 
of a State whose chief executive officer fails to submit a 
certification required under subsection (a) in a fiscal year, 
the Attorney General shall reduce the amount that the 
State would have otherwise received under section 505 of 
title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 
of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3755) by 20 percent for the following 
fiscal year. 
(c) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated to a 
State under section 505 of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3755) 
for a fiscal year pursuant to subsection (b) shall be reallo-
cated under such section to States that submit such cer-
tifications. 
(d) MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS.—For the pur-
poses of subsection (a), the term ‘‘menstrual hygiene prod-
ucts’’ means sanitary napkins and tampons. All items 
must conform to applicable industry standards. 
(e) AVAILABILITY FOR FEDERAL PRISONERS.—The 
Attorney General shall make rules requiring, and the Di-
rector of the Bureau of Prisons shall take such actions 
as may be necessary to ensure, the distribution and acces-
sibility without charge of menstrual hygiene products to 
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prisoners in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, includ-
ing any prisoner in a Federal penal or correctional institu-
tion, any Federal prisoner in a State penal or correctional 
institution, and any Federal prisoner in a facility adminis-
tered by a private detention entity, to ensure that each 
prisoner who requires these products may receive them in 
sufficient quantity. 
(f) AVAILABILITY FOR DETAINEES.—The Secretary 
of Homeland Security shall take such actions as may be 
necessary to ensure that menstrual hygiene products are 
distributed and made accessible to each alien detained by 
the Secretary of Homeland Security, including any alien 
in a facility administered by a private detention entity, at 
no expense to the alien. 
SEC. 4. MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS AVAILABILITY 
FOR HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS UNDER EMER-
GENCY FOOD AND SHELTER GRANT PRO-
GRAM. 
Subsection (a) of section 316 of the McKinney-Vento 
Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11346(a)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(2) in paragraph (6), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
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(3) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(7) guidelines that ensure that amounts pro-
vided under the program to private nonprofit organi-
zations and local governments may be used to pro-
vide sanitary napkins and tampons. All items must 
conform to applicable industry standards.’’. 
SEC. 5. MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS REIMBURSE-
MENT FROM HEALTH FLEXIBLE SPENDING 
ARRANGEMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 106 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(h) MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts paid or incurred 
for menstrual hygiene products shall be treated as a 
qualified medical expense eligible for reimbursement 
from a health flexible spending arrangement. 
‘‘(2) MENSTRUAL
HYGIENE
PRODUCTS
DE-
FINED.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the term 
‘menstrual hygiene products’ means sanitary nap-
kins, tampons, liners, cups, and similar items used 
by individuals with respect to menstruation. All 
items must conform to applicable industry stand-
ards.’’. 
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(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 6. MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS COVERED BY 
MEDICAID. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title XIX of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) in section 1902(a)(10)(A), by striking ‘‘and 
(29)’’ and inserting ‘‘, (29), and (30)’’; and 
(2) in section 1905— 
(A) in subsection (a)— 
(i) in paragraph (29), by striking 
‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(ii) by redesignating paragraph (30) 
as paragraph (31); and 
(iii) by inserting after paragraph (29) 
the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(30) menstrual hygiene products (as defined in 
subsection (ff)); and’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(ff) MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS.—For pur-
poses of subsection (a)(30), The term ‘menstrual hygiene 
products’ means sanitary napkins, tampons, liners, cups, 
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and similar items used by individuals with respect to men-
struation and that conform to industry standards.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 
the amendments made by this section shall apply 
with respect to medical assistance furnished during 
or after the first calendar quarter beginning on or 
after the date that is 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act. 
(2) EXCEPTION FOR STATE LEGISLATION.—In 
the case of a State plan under title XIX of the So-
cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) that the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services determines 
requires State legislation in order for the respective 
plan to meet any requirement imposed by amend-
ments made by this section, the respective plan shall 
not be regarded as failing to comply with the re-
quirements of such title solely on the basis of its 
failure to meet such an additional requirement be-
fore the first day of the first calendar quarter begin-
ning after the close of the first regular session of the 
State legislature that begins after the date of the en-
actment of this Act. For purposes of the previous 
sentence, in the case of a State that has a 2-year 
legislative session, each year of the session shall be 
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considered to be a separate regular session of the 
State legislature. 
SEC. 7. MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS FOR EMPLOYEES. 
Section 6 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 
of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 655) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(g) The Secretary shall by rule promulgate a re-
quirement that each employer with not less than 100 em-
ployees provide menstrual hygiene products free of charge 
for employees of the employer. For purposes of the pre-
ceding sentence, ‘menstrual hygiene products’ means sani-
tary napkins and tampons. All items must conform to ap-
plicable industry standards.’’. 
SEC. 8. MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS IN FEDERAL 
BUILDINGS. 
(a) REQUIREMENT.—The head of each agency shall 
ensure that menstrual hygiene products are stocked in, 
and available free of charge in, each covered restroom in 
each covered public building under the jurisdiction of such 
agency. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi-
nitions apply: 
(1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 551 of title 5, 
United States Code. 
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(2) COVERED
PUBLIC
BUILDING.—The term 
‘‘covered public building’’ means a public building 
(as defined in section 3301 of title 40, United States 
Code) that is open to the public and contains a rest-
room, and includes a building listed in section 6301 
or 5101 of such title. 
(3) COVERED RESTROOM.—The term ‘‘covered 
restroom’’ means each restroom in a covered public 
building except for a restroom designated solely for 
use by men. 
(4) MENSTRUAL
HYGIENE
PRODUCTS.—The 
term ‘‘menstrual hygiene products’’ means sanitary 
napkins and tampons. All items must conform to ap-
plicable industry standards. 
Æ 
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