Legislators have allocated $400,000 annually to the state Department of Accounting and General Services to equip public buildings with menstrual products.
House Finance Committee members agreed at conference to a Senate Ways and Means Committee proposal to include in the budget bill a $400,000 appropriation to DAGS for menstrual products and dispensers beginning July 1.
Products currently are available at the state Capitol at no cost, and this service will be ongoing. A DAGS spokesperson said further assessment would be required to determine other buildings where menstrual products and dispensers can be installed.
State rep. Rachele Lamosao (D, Waipahu) introduced House Bill 2003 to require DAGS to offer free menstrual products in designated restrooms; however, the proposal died in February.
State Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz (D, Mililani-Wahiawa-Whitmore Village) — also chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee — said members of the Legislature, including Senate President Ronald Kouchi, wanted to make sure that the state can support the initiative.
“It was clearly a priority for members, so both the finance chair and I wanted to make sure that it got funded,” Dela Cruz said.
Through a National Foundation of Women Legislators award, Lamosao collaborated with Ma‘i Movement Hawaii — a nonprofit aiming to end menstrual inequity in Hawaii — in distributing $1,000 worth of period products to libraries statewide.
“This initiative is crucial for promoting accessibility and advocating for women’s health, ensuring that every individual, regardless of income or status, can access these necessities and feel comfortable and secure,” Lamosao said. “This effort demonstrates the Legislature’s commitment to supporting women and women’s health, and I am optimistic that this will further normalize discussions on the statewide importance of menstrual product accessibility in all of our communities.”
A 2021 report conducted by the Hawai‘i State Commission on the Status of Women and Ma‘i Movement Hawai‘i revealed that high costs of living and wage gaps for women exacerbate period poverty within the state.
According to the report, 90% of respondents thought menstrual products were expensive, and almost 30% of respondents reported that they or someone in their household experienced difficulty obtaining menstrual products.
State Sen. Maile Shimabukuro (D, Nanakuli-Waianae-Makaha), who also introduced two bills on menstrual equity, said that the appropriation was successfully made due to “effective lobbying by the Ma‘i Movement and all the various groups that were very enthusiastic about it.”
Shimabukuro introduced SB 3000 — which got deferred during a March House Committee on Health and Homelessness hearing — to provide menstrual products in public-building restrooms, and SB 2433, which would require the University of Hawaii to provide menstrual products free of charge to all students on all campuses.
“Menstrual products are very pricey, and they are a necessity for you menstruating girls and women,” Shimabukuro said. “There are situations where schoolgirls and other low-income women found themselves unable to afford menstrual products.”
Similarly, state Rep. Amy Perruso (D, Wahiawa-Whitmore Village-Mokuleia) introduced HB 2177, which also died in February but would have required UH to provide menstrual products free of charge to all students on all campuses, including community colleges and education centers.
