Make women's menstrual products free in all public and school restrooms

 

The purpose of this bill is to let all women have free menstrual products in public restrooms and schools in the state

of Minnesota. They shouldn’t have an extra expense just because they are female and therefore shouldn’t have to pay for

necessities.

 

This bill is important because it is a natural function that women have no control over. Women already have to pay more

than men for the exact same products just because they are labeled for women. Some less fortunate women that don’t have

enough money to pay for all these products should be able to access these products without having to sacrifice food or

clothing for their children while still having the use of these products.

 

“Menstrual products” shall be defined as items used to absorb or collect menstrual blood, such as pads, tampons, cups,

period-specific underwear, etc.

“Season of menstruation" shall be defined as puberty through menopause.

 

The funding for this bill would come from shampoo sales. Women would pay the normal price of $8.89(average price of

$8.89 for women's shampoo) and men paying $7.89(average price of $7.89 for men's shampoo). The stores that sell the

shampoo would only be able to keep the purchase price ($7.89) of the men’s shampoo and the extra one dollar difference

that women are currently paying would go to the government to pay for the menstrual product which would be free in every

public bathroom and school. Men’s products should not be cheaper just because they are men's. The extra money that is

saved by only keeping the amount of the men's products and the rest going to pay to the government would be the funding

to have the women’s menstrual products free in every public and school bathroom.

(Roughly 2.85 million women in the state of MN, each of whom buys roughly 12 bottles of shampoo per year. (12 x 2.85

million = $34.2 million dollars)

 

If any company or person takes the free products and tries to sell them to the public they would get their business

license taken away or would be prosecuted with a fine of $5,000 for the first offence and higher costs for each offence

after that, which would also go towards the free products.

 

The effective date would be July 1st 2027.