New York – New York City is on track to become the nation’s first city to require free tampons and sanitary pads in public schools, homeless shelters and jails after lawmakers approved the idea Tuesday amid a national discussion of the costs of having a period.
The proposal, which Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration supports, marks a new direction in activists’ push to dismantle what they see as unfair financial barriers between women and needed sanitary products.
New York state lawmakers voted last month to become the sixth state to eliminate sales tax on the items.
