Requires certain libraries to provide free menstrual hygiene products and requires State to pay costs.

A2190

ASSEMBLY, No. 2190

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT

District 29 (Essex and Hudson)

Assemblywoman SHAMA A. HAIDER

District 37 (Bergen)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblymen Stanley and Rodriguez

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires certain libraries to provide free menstrual
hygiene products and requires State to pay costs.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act
concerning the provision of menstrual hygiene products
in certain libraries and supplementing chapter 74 of Title 18A of the New
Jersey Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� The Legislature finds
and declares:

���� a.���� According to BMC
Women�s Health, �period poverty� is a lack of access to menstrual products,
education, and hygiene facilities that affects 500 million people worldwide and
an estimated 16.9 million people in the United States.

���� b.��� People who experience
period poverty are unable to purchase the menstrual hygiene products they need
and, in many cases, this means that they cannot go to school or work or
otherwise fully participate in daily life.

���� c.���� Period poverty causes
physical, mental, and emotional challenges. It can make people feel shame for
menstruating, and the stigma surrounding periods prevents individuals from
talking about it.

���� d.��� A recent study involving
college-aged individuals who menstruate reported that 14.2 percent had
experienced period poverty in the past year, and an additional 10 percent experienced
it every month.

���� e.���� Research has found that
almost two-thirds of women who menstruate in the Unites States with a low income
could not afford menstrual hygiene products in the last year, while nearly half
of these women sometimes had to choose between buying food or menstrual hygiene
products.

�����������

���� 2.��� a.�� As used in this
act, �menstrual hygiene products� mean tampons and sanitary napkins for use in
connection with the menstrual cycle.�

���� b.��� A municipality or county
that supports, in whole or in part, library service from municipal or county
tax sources pursuant to chapter 33 or 54 of Title 40 of the Revised Statutes,
and in which 40 percent or more of its residents reside in households with a
household income at or below the most recent federal poverty guidelines
multiplied by 1.85, shall ensure that each library in the municipality or county:

���� (1)�� provides direct access
to menstrual hygiene products in each women�s restroom and each all-gender
restroom free of charge; and�

���� (2)�� provides and prominently
displays educational pamphlets addressing topics including, but not limited to,
toxic shock syndrome, menstrual disorders, and the proper disposal of menstrual
hygiene products, in each women�s restroom and each all-gender restroom.

���� c.���� Any costs incurred by a
library in providing an adequate supply of menstrual hygiene products to meet
the needs of its patrons pursuant to this section shall be borne by the
State.���

���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires certain
libraries to provide free menstrual hygiene products in its restrooms. Under
the bill, a municipality or county that supports, in whole or in part, library
service from municipal or county tax sources, and in which 40 percent or more
of its residents reside in households with a household income at or below the
most recent federal poverty guidelines multiplied by 1.85, is required to
ensure that each library in the municipality or county:

�

provides direct access to menstrual hygiene products in each
women�s restroom and each all-gender restroom free of charge; and�

�

provides and prominently displays educational pamphlets
addressing topics including, but not limited to, toxic shock syndrome,
menstrual disorders, and the proper disposal of menstrual hygiene products, in
each women�s restroom and each all-gender restroom.

���� Under the bill, any costs
incurred by a library in providing an adequate supply of menstrual hygiene
products to meet the needs of its patrons will be borne by the State.�

���� Period poverty is a lack of
access to menstrual products, education, and hygiene facilities that affects
500 million people worldwide and an estimated 16.9 million people in the United
States. People who experience period poverty are unable to purchase the menstrual
hygiene products they need and, in many cases, this means that they cannot go
to school or work or otherwise fully participate in daily life.